Dorset offers more funding for storm-hit fishermen

Summary: Dorset fishermen affected by the winter storms, are now able to apply for up to £5,000 to replace damaged equipment.

The Fishmongers Company Fund is being administered by the Dorset Community Foundation. It follows criticism of an EU fund application process for fishermen which Dorset South MP Richard Drax called "a bureaucratic mess". Commenting on news of the latest fund, he said that "any money the fishermen get is good news". The Foundation said it would accept applications from Dorset fishermen "whose trade has been severely affected by storm damage" during the period 1 December to 31 March 2014.

सर्दियों के तूफानों से प्रभावित डोरसेट मछुआरे अब क्षतिग्रस्त उपकरणों को बदलने के लिए £5,000 तक का आवेदन कर सकते हैं।


Effort to save Aberdeen's Remploy factory made

Summary: A last-ditch bid to save a factory which employs disabled workers in Aberdeen from closure has been made.

Remploy in St Machar Road employs 15 workers, 14 of whom are disabled. A case to develop a social enterprise hub in its place was recently rejected. MPs Anne Begg and Frank Doran met Minister for Disabled People Esther McVey at Westminster for talks. Remploy earlier said it was planning to close 36 of its 54 factories.

एबरडीन में विकलांग श्रमिकों को काम पर रखने वाले एक कारखाने को बंद होने से बचाने के लिए एक अंतिम बोली लगाई गई है।


Disturbing the peace: Can America’s quietest town be saved?

Summary: There's a town in West Virginia where there are tight restrictions on mobile signal, wifi and other parts of what most of us know as simply: modern life. It means Green Bank is a place unlike anywhere else in the world. But that could be set to change.

Dave LeeNorth America technology reporter "Do you ever sit awake at night and wonder, what if?" I asked. Mike Holstine's eyes twinkled like the stars he had spent his life's work observing. "The universe is so huge," he began. "On the off chance we do get that hugely lucky signal, when we look in the right place, at the right frequency. When we get that… can you imagine what that's going to do to humankind?" WATCH MORE: See the full film on this week's edition of Click Holstine is business manager at the Green Bank Observatory, the centrepiece of which is the colossal Green Bank Telescope. On a foggy Tuesday morning, I'm standing in the middle of it, looking up, feeling small. Though the GBT has many research tasks, the one everyone talks about is the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence. The GBT listens out for signs of communication or activity by species that are not from Earth. And if aliens are aware of our giant ear to the galaxy, there could be no better advert for the beauty of our planet than the town of Green Bank. Found in beautiful rural West Virginia, the town of 150 or so people is anchored by the GBT. The structure dominates the view over the countryside, but somehow does not seem to spoil it. Unique people I am not the first BBC reporter to pop in here. In fact, Green Bank is a source of constant fascination for journalists all over the world. Recently, several people in the town told me, a Japanese crew baffled everyone when it appeared to set up a game show-style challenge in the area. Outsiders come here for two reasons. One, to marvel at the science. Two, to ogle at the unique people who have chosen to live here. Green Bank sits at the heart of the National Radio Quiet Zone, a 13,000 square mile (33,669 sq km) area where certain types of transmissions are restricted so as not to create interference to the variety of instruments set up in the hills - as well as the Green Bank Observatory, there is also Sugar Grove, a US intelligence agency outpost. For those in the immediate vicinity of the GBT, the rules are more strict. Your mobile phone is useless here, you will not get a TV signal and you can't have strong wi-fi - though they admit this is a losing battle. Modern life is winning, gradually. And newer wi-fi standards do not interfere with the same frequencies as before. But this relative digital isolation has meant that Green Bank has become a haven for those who feel they are quite literally allergic to electronic interference. The condition is referred to as electromagnetic hypersensitivity disorder. Opinion is split on whether it is real, with the majority of medical opinion erring on the side that it is more psychological than physical. But when I met with Diane Schou, one sufferer, I realised it did not matter whether the condition was "real" or not - for a growing number of people, modern technology has them feeling trapped. The knock-on effects from the global recession have led to the Green Bank Telescope being on the chopping block. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is consulting right now on whether they can justify the expense of the telescope. To make things more precarious for Green Bank, other telescopes with similar abilities have been built in other parts of the world, including Chile. The NSF is not going to just pull the rug from underneath the GBT. As it stands, funding is going to be gradually removed. Not a slow death, but rather a chance for Mr Holstine to court private investment money to keep the telescope operational. It is working so far - the Breakthrough Listen project, backed with Silicon Valley money, is focused solely on finding other intelligent life. Over 10 years, its investors are planning to spend $100m (£80.3m) on the quest. They are using the GBT as part of an effort to survey the one million stars closest to Earth. For the locals in Green Bank, the survival of the telescope is not just about seeking ET. It is also the largest employer in the entire county. The big questions When I asked Chuck and Heather Niday, who host a weekly show on the charming Allegheny Mountain Radio, whether the town would change if restrictions were lifted, they were reserved. Sure, the kids would love access to Snapchat. But the fabric of the town would not be affected. It is a rural community and no amount of mobile phone signal will change the nature of this tight-knit town. If like me you find it unfathomable that we are alone in the universe, then Green Bank is an utterly essential utility. When I asked Mr Holstine to justify the money the US government spends on the facility, he dug deep. "How many of us have walked out into the night and looked up at the stars and stood there in wonder? "We don't produce widgets. We don't produce something that you go to the store and buy. But we do produce education. We do produce research. We do produce answers to questions we haven't even asked ourselves yet. "Those questions are the basis of what it means for us to be human. That constant search is done right here every day." Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC and on Facebook.

वेस्ट वर्जीनिया में एक शहर है जहाँ मोबाइल सिग्नल, वाई-फाई और अन्य हिस्सों पर सख्त प्रतिबंध हैं जिन्हें हम में से अधिकांश लोग सरलता से जानते हैंः आधुनिक जीवन। इसका मतलब है कि ग्रीन बैंक दुनिया में कहीं और से अलग जगह है। लेकिन इसे बदलने के लिए सेट किया जा सकता है।


Mueller hearing: Have we learned anything new?

Summary: During his public appearance in May announcing the end of his special counsel inquiry, Robert Mueller said he didn't want or need to testify before Congress on the results of his investigation.

Anthony ZurcherNorth America reporter@awzurcheron Twitter On Wednesday, it was clear why he felt that way. The Justice Department publicly issued guidelines on Tuesday that set boundaries on Mr Mueller's testimony, instructing him to stay within the confines of the written report. Mr Mueller said he would abide by this - echoing similar comments he made two months ago. This virtually ensured that the former special counsel's testimony would not cover much new ground. Instead, Democrats had to pick and choose what episodes and findings they wanted to highlight, in the hopes that Mr Mueller would offer affirmation or further corroboration. He frequently did, but usually in the least dramatic fashion imaginable. His answer to a question about the president asking White House staff to falsify documents relevant to the investigation, for instance, was simply: "I would say that's generally a summary". 'I'll refer you to the report' The Justice Department ground rules all but guaranteed that Mr Mueller's testimony would be awkward and halting, as he repeatedly paused to refer to specific pages of the report. Mr Mueller's responses were peppered with lines like: "I can't answer that question"; "I can't get into that"; "I don't recall"; "that's out of my purview"; and "I'll refer you to the report". That he frequently made them while leaning away from his microphone to look at his papers made things only more awkward to watch. In addition, Mueller at times seemed all of his 74 years of age - a step behind the congressional questioners, who had clearly rehearsed for their five minutes apiece in the spotlight. As both Republicans and Democrats furiously tried to shape the public's view of the report, Mueller frequently had the look of a man in the middle of a busy intersection, trying not to get hit by cars. At the beginning of the afternoon hearing, Mr Mueller even had to go back and correct an earlier answer about why he did not indict the president for obstruction of justice. This hearing was always going to feature a fair amount of grandstanding by the politicians in the room - such behaviour is hardwired into their DNA. Partisan grandstanding tends to only confirm the existing views of those who watch, however. If undecided Americans were hoping for definitive statements from Mr Mueller - or even relatively clear or coherent soundbites from the former special counsel - they were few and far between. The man 'not watching' Donald Trump insisted that he wasn't going to watch the Mueller hearing - and his legal team insisted their reaction to the whole proceedings would be a collective shrug. As is often the case, however, Mr Trump's Twitter feed tells a different story. He tweeted eight times about the Mueller investigation on Tuesday morning before the hearings began, including his old chestnut "No collusion, no obstruction!" He also challenged Mr Mueller to say under oath that he did not "apply" to be the president's selection to replace fired FBI Director James Comey. Mr Mueller did not hesitate to contradict Mr Trump, saying instead that he had met the president to talk about the attributes a new director should have. Since the hearings began, the president has retweeted or quoted conservatives who have praised Republicans on the committee or criticised Democrats and Mr Mueller, including citing Fox's Chris Wallace, who called it "a disaster for the Democrats and a disaster for the reputation of Robert Mueller". It certainly hasn't been a great day for the Democrats in Congress who were hoping Mr Mueller's testimony might fuel calls for formal presidential impeachment hearings. If anything, it will probably play into hands of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who has tried to tamp down the impeachment drive, instead opting for a slow and steady congressional investigatory approach. Mr Mueller's appearance had been long awaited and much anticipated, but although it arrived with considerable fanfare, the US political landscape is almost certain to look the same the day after these hearings as it was the day before. Far from a 'total exoneration' A key moment for Democrats came early in Mr Mueller's testimony, when Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler directly asked him if his report was a "total exoneration" of the president, as Mr Trump has insisted. "No," was Mr Mueller's short and direct answer. Mr Mueller confirmed that he believed Justice Department rules prevented the special counsel from indicting a sitting president for any criminal acts. What's more, Mr Mueller also confirmed that he had repeatedly tried to interview Mr Trump about the instances of possible obstruction - that it was vital to the investigation and in the public interest - but Mr Trump had refused. Democrats have fought hard against the early characterisation of the Mueller report by Attorney General William Barr that there was insufficient evidence to find Mr Trump had obstructed justice. Mr Mueller confirmed that he believed he could make no such determination one way or another - although his report had stated that if Mr Trump had been exonerated, it would have said so. This wasn't new information, of course, but it was helpful for Democrats to get Mr Mueller to say it in person once again, on wall-to-wall national television coverage. A president 'below the law' If Democrats found it outrageous that the special counsel investigation couldn't exonerate Mr Trump of criminal obstruction of justice, Republicans were outraged as well - but for an entirely different reason. In one of the more dramatic portions of Mr Mueller's testimony, Republican John Ratcliffe of Texas pressed Mr Mueller to explain why his report pointedly said it would have cleared Mr Trump of obstruction if it had definitely concluded that was the case. "Which [Department of Justice] policy or principle sets forth a legal standard that an investigated person is not exonerated if their innocence from criminal conduct is not conclusively determined?" Mr Ratcliffe asked. Mr Mueller began to answer that the investigation of the president was a "unique situation", but the Texas congressman was having none of it - "respectfully", he repeatedly added. "It was not the special counsel's job to conclusively determine Donald Trump's innocence or to exonerate him because the bedrock principle of our justice system is a presumption of innocence," he said. The president isn't above the law, he continued, "but he damn sure shouldn't be below the law". Mr Mueller's lack of a conclusion on presidential obstruction is one of the biggest open questions coming out of the special counsel's inquiry. The double-negative assertion that Mr Trump didn't definitely not commit an illegal act has been held up by Democrats as a big flashing sign pointing to what Mr Mueller secretly believes but felt he couldn't say - that the president should have been charged with a crime. Mr Ratcliffe, and Republicans throughout the morning, made very clear they thought that was patently unfair. A Russian attack, not a 'hoax' While Mr Mueller's obstruction of justice investigation ended with a question mark, his inquiry into any criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia concluded with a full-stop. There was insufficient evidence, he said, to bring charges. Perhaps because of this, it has received somewhat less political and media attention in the months since the Mueller report came out - even if it was the central thrust of the investigation. On Wednesday afternoon, however, the breadth of the Russian attacks on the US electoral process were front and centre. And in their questioning, Intelligence Committee Democrats bluntly set out the case that, while Mr Mueller may have concluded no crime was committed, some of the actions and statements by Mr Trump and his campaign team were troubling. Mr Mueller agreed that Russia's primary goal was to help Mr Trump win the presidency and the Trump campaign "welcomed" the assistance; that several members of the Trump campaign, including the candidate himself, had business dealings or other contacts with Russians; that several individuals connected to the Trump campaign lied to investigators; and that the Trump campaign incorporated documents hacked and publicly released by Russian agents into their campaign strategy. Contrary to the president's insistence, Mr Mueller said, the Russia investigation wasn't a "witch hunt" and Russian election-meddling was not a "hoax". Asked specifically about Mr Trump's praise of Wikileaks and its "treasure trove" of hacked documents, Mr Mueller said calling such remarks problematic "was an understatement". Problematic statements aren't a criminal conspiracy, however, and it's clear at this point that the price Mr Trump will pay for them, if any, will be political, not legal. The partisan muddle that lies ahead Robert Mueller has been presented, at various times and by various parties, as a hero or villain - an avenging angel who would expose corruption or the part of a corrupt establishment himself. After six hours of testimony, the former special counsel - for two years the silent sphinx of Washington - spoke extensively, but he revealed he had little of the superhuman powers that have been attributed to him. In his sometimes stumbling testimony, he stuck by the text of his voluminous report, leaving the American political landscape much the way it sat before he entered the committee room on Wednesday morning. Democrats hoping that Mr Mueller would offer the kind of sweeping testimony that fuels calls for presidential impeachment will surely be disappointed. Republicans, including the president himself, who were hoping for vindication at last - "No collusion! No obstruction!" - did not receive it. Instead, the partisan muddle remains. Investigations in Congress will continue to plod along. Those on the left will continue to decry what they see as the president's obvious crimes and ethical shortcomings. Republicans will continue to insist the president is being smeared by false accusations. In the end, like all political disputes, the American public will be the final arbiter. In this case, that judgement will be passed at the ballot box, 15 months from now.

मई में अपनी सार्वजनिक उपस्थिति के दौरान अपनी विशेष सलाहकार जांच के अंत की घोषणा करते हुए, रॉबर्ट म्यूलर ने कहा कि वह अपनी जांच के परिणामों पर कांग्रेस के सामने गवाही नहीं देना चाहते थे या उनकी आवश्यकता नहीं थी।


Analysis: Why smoking is in the firing line

Summary: The sale and promotion of tobacco products are to be more heavily-regulated. It is just the latest in a long line of laws to reduce smoking rates. But will it work and why are law-makers so keen on targeting smokers?

By Nick TriggleHealth reporter, BBC News Bans have been imposed on tobacco advertising and smoking in public places in recent years. The age at which people can buy cigarettes has been increased from 16 to 18. Later this year, tobacco products will be taken out of vending machines - and now ministers are seeking to ban displays in shops and, perhaps, force manufacturers to use plain packaging. Smoking, it is fair to say, is probably the most regulated mass habit around. But a quick look at smoking rates explains why the government is taking an increasingly tough stance. In the 1950s, when the link between smoking and lung cancer was established beyond doubt, eight in 10 men smoked. By 1974, 45% of adults were smokers and this continued to fall until it dipped under a quarter in 2001. But since then the numbers have started levelling off. Some 21% of adults still smoke, with manual groups twice as likely to do so as professional groups. Children What is more, the number of child smokers remains worryingly high. One in seven 15-year-olds say they are regular smokers. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley wants this to change - and believes the steps set out in his tobacco control strategy will help. He has set "national ambitions" to reduce smoking in adults from 21.2% to 18.5% by 2015. There are specific goals for teenagers and pregnant women too. It promises to be a challenging target. Many experts have argued that there is now a hardcore group of smokers that will continue regardless of the health warnings and government action. But Professor Anne McNeill, an expert in health policy and promotion at Nottingham University, disagrees. She cites the experience of California in the US which has got smoking rates under the magical 20% figure. She said the targeting of health messages at certain groups as well as steps, such as the display ban, to denormalise the habit were key. But only time will tell whether banning shop displays and - if it happens - enforcing plain packaging will actually work in England. In terms of the display ban, there is evidence already out there about the effect it could have. A host of countries, including Canada, Ireland, Finland, and Iceland, have already forced shops to keep tobacco products under-the-counter. And where this has happened, there are signs smoking rates have fallen. In Saskatchewan, the first Canadian province to remove displays, youth smoking fell by a quarter in five years. Iceland also saw a fall of over 10% after its ban came into place in 2001. Other countries have reported similar patterns. A study of 25,000 young people in New Zealand found 15-year-olds exposed to shop displays were three times more likely to try smoking. In fact, researchers found shop displays were an even greater risk factor than parental smoking. But introducing legislation does cost industry. A review of the Irish ban by the UK Association of Convenience Stores found the average cost of compliance was £300 per store. In Canada, it was even more. Although manufacturers helped many stores pay for the changes. Industry has also been adamant that banning displays and plain packaging will boost the black market in illicit cigarettes. The evidence on this is inconclusive, although there are suggestions that a display ban makes it harder for enforcement agencies to identify counterfeit products.

तंबाकू उत्पादों की बिक्री और प्रचार को अधिक व्यापक रूप से विनियमित किया जाना है। धूम्रपान की दर को कम करने के लिए यह कानूनों की एक लंबी कतार में नवीनतम है। लेकिन क्या यह काम करेगा और कानून निर्माता धूम्रपान करने वालों को लक्षित करने के लिए इतने उत्सुक क्यों हैं?


Trump-Comey scandal: US media turns spotlight on Republicans

Summary: As the crisis over the Trump administration's alleged links with Russia deepens, US media are talking about what they see as a moment of reckoning for the Republican Party, for President Donald Trump and indeed for the former FBI chief James Comey.

Many outlets are trying to gauge the mood of Republicans in Congress amid reports that President Trump asked Mr Comey to drop an inquiry into links between his former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and Russia. In a sarcastic opinion piece, the New York Times, which first reported on Mr Comey's memo, says the memo's existence is "very bad news for an administration already suffocating itself in scandal". It expresses frustration with Republican lawmakers. "Richard Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the burden was on The Times to produce the memo," it says. "Perhaps he forgot his own committee's authority to subpoena Mr Comey's memo, and his testimony." "When will Republicans in Congress decide that enough is enough? Do they need Mr Trump's approval ratings to dip below 30%? Do they need first to ram through their deeply unpopular agenda? Or it is possible they might at last consult their consciences, and recall that they took an oath to uphold the constitution?" Dan Balz in the Washington Post describes the latest events as a "moment of reckoning" for the party. "As President Trump has lurched from one crisis to another, Republicans have chosen a strategy of compartmentalisation over confrontation, preferring to look away in hopes that the storm would pass," he says. "Now, after a pair of stunning revelations about the president, that approach may have run aground. "Calls for a special prosecutor or an independent investigation will intensify, though many Republicans will continue to resist, at least until their own political standing is in real danger. "But the double revelations of the past two days show that events are forcing a change in everyone's calculations." Politico says Republicans are in a bind because the crisis could threaten their entire legislative programme: "Health care, tax reform, building up the Pentagon — all of it is potentially threatened by the latest furore. "And if Republicans are paralysed and can't pass anything despite control of the White House and Congress, how can they justify their majorities when they go before voters next year?" 'Possible smoking gun' CNN's Stephen Collinson says reputations are at stake because of the latest scandal. "It promises to have grave implications for the longevity of an administration that appears to slip deeper into utter disarray by the hour," he says. "There doesn't seem to be a way that both men [Mr Trump and Mr Comey] could survive the contest with their reputations intact." Collinson adds that testimony by Mr Comey would be "one of the most significant congressional appearances of modern times". "The practiced, analytical note-taking of a former FBI director who knows how to leave a paper trail would amount to a compelling piece of evidence in the court of public opinion and pit Comey's word against Trump's. "After all, a Comey memo could approach 'smoking gun' significance if it appears to prove that the president could conceivably be accused of obstructing justice - potentially grounds for impeachment." 'Dull blade' Unsurprisingly, right-wing media have been dismissive of Mr Comey's apparent revelations, but there were differing opinions about who was to blame. Tucker Carlson on Fox News urged viewers not to take everything they read at face value. He said "an awful lot of people in Washington" wanted to remove the president. "What are their motives? In a lot of cases those are completely unknown. A lot of what you hear and accept uncritically you ought to question." he said. Joel Pollak, writing in the pro-Trump news site Breitbart, however, points the finger at Mr Comey himself, who - it says - is clearly trying to cause maximum political damage to the president. "But this dagger is a rather dull blade," Pollak says. "It lacks any apparent 'quid pro quo' - a sense that Trump was offering something to Comey in exchange for dropping the investigation. "Democrats, predictably, are pouncing on the story," he adds. "But so far, is just the latest hysterical episode in their effort to deny the legitimacy of the November election. "If this is the best that Comey's 'paper trail' can produce, his 'revenge' may backfire, at least in political terms."

जैसे-जैसे ट्रम्प प्रशासन के रूस के साथ कथित संबंधों पर संकट बढ़ता जा रहा है, अमेरिकी मीडिया इस बारे में बात कर रहा है कि वे रिपब्लिकन पार्टी, राष्ट्रपति डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प और वास्तव में पूर्व एफबीआई प्रमुख जेम्स कोमी के लिए एक महत्वपूर्ण क्षण के रूप में देख रहे हैं।


Car wedged between footbridge railings in Hessle

Summary: A car got wedged between railings after it took a wrong turning and was driven over a pedestrian footbridge.

The Suzuki Alto negotiated a large bend on the bridge near to the A63 in Hessle, East Yorkshire, but its off-road escapades came to a halt by a concrete bollard blocking its exit. Police were called to help the stuck motorist at about 15:00 GMT on Monday. Humberside Police declined to give any details about the driver, or how they managed to end up on the footbridge. The force said the car was there for several hours before it was removed.

गलत मोड़ लेने के बाद एक कार रेलिंग के बीच फंस गई और पैदल चलने वाले पुल के ऊपर से गुजर गई।


Ideas offered for Inner Moray Firth building sites

Summary: A call seeking potential sites for development in a part of the Highlands has sparked 450 suggestions.

Highland Council asked for possible locations to help it produce the Inner Moray Firth Local Development Plan. The finished document will guide building projects in the area, which includes Inverness, Tain, Muir of Ord, Nairn, Cannich and Fort Augustus. The next stage in developing the plan will be to come up with site options in large towns and villages.

हाइलैंड्स के एक हिस्से में विकास के लिए संभावित स्थलों की मांग ने 450 सुझावों को जन्म दिया है।


Brexit: Will Brussels budge on the Irish backstop?

Summary: Boris Johnson insists on them, Graham Brady is pushing hard for them, Prime Minister Theresa May seems to be praying for them and Dublin is deeply worried at the thought of them but will the EU ever actually "give in" and make changes to the backstop - that guarantee post-Brexit to avoid a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland?

Katya AdlerEurope editor@BBCkatyaadleron Twitter It's a tough one. The EU certainly never intended to budge on the backstop - painfully negotiated with the UK over 18 months and signed off last November by Mrs May and her cabinet. But Europe's leaders didn't imagine the UK would still be in such flux over Brexit so very close to B-day on 29 March. Conversations I had with EU figures before Christmas saw my contacts confidently predicting that 2019 would see a no-deal Brexit (which they didn't believe UK MPs would allow to happen), Theresa May's Brexit deal being passed by parliament with cross-party support when MPs realised the looming risk of no deal (they thought this outcome the most likely), or no Brexit at all. Read more: But now there is spreading concern, as the EU's deputy chief Brexit negotiator, Sabine Weyand, pointed out on Monday, that the UK could end up "crashing out" of the EU - not intentionally but simply because time allotted by law for exit negotiations could run out before any agreement is reached. "The only reason there's still relative calm in EU circles about a no-deal Brexit is because we still have the popcorn out," one EU diplomat told me. "We're mesmerised by the goings on in the House of Commons. But give it a few weeks: if nothing has changed, you'll soon see signs of panic in the (European) capitals." Of course the EU wants to concentrate minds - for negotiating purposes - on the pain a no-deal Brexit will cause the UK but it will inevitably be costly and difficult for European citizens and businesses too. Game planning EU leaders won't want to be punished at the ballot box back home for not having done their best in the view of their voters to avoid all that, but you would be mistaken to then conclude Brussels will - when push comes to shove - pay any price to head off a no-deal Brexit. Behind closed doors, of course, there is a certain amount of game planning going on but the EU is currently in watch and wait mode. EU leaders believe the Brexit debate still has a way to run in parliament and they want to see which way the wind is blowing. They hope if they stand firm and refuse to reopen the Brexit withdrawal agreement, then MPs could be tempted to unite around a softer Brexit than the one advocated by Theresa May - in order to avoid a no-deal Brexit. Some EU leaders dream of a second referendum, resulting - perhaps - in a Brexit reversal. So put yourself in the EU's shoes for a moment: why make a move now as long as the above options appear (to varying degrees) to still be possibilities in the UK? This is why we've recently heard the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, insisting that there is flexibility in the Brexit text on EU-UK future relations, whereas the backstop text is unchangeable. The EU, as I mentioned earlier, wants very, very, very much to avoid making changes to the backstop. A reminder again as to why: And the EU is thinking bigger picture too. If Brussels "caves in" to the UK over the backstop, there's a fear that could encourage Brussels-sceptic governments in member states Hungary, Italy and Poland, for example, to flout club rules. It could also send a message of weakness to international trade partners. Ticking clock Yet despite all that, if EU leaders were staring into the no-deal Brexit abyss come 1 March, then blink they might over the backstop. And there are the beginnings of whispers to that effect in some EU corridors. Who knows now what changes the EU might eventually accept and it's very hard indeed to imagine them doing it without the OK from Dublin. But mindful of the ticking clock, the European Commission appears to be trying to focus minds in the Irish government and beyond (remember Theresa May's repeated pledge to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland?) on harsh realities. Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas - a man known to be extremely careful about what he does or doesn't say - last week pointedly announced that a no-deal Brexit would inevitably lead to some kind of hard border/ie physical checks. But anyone in Westminster who thinks the backstop issue could magically disappear should definitely think again. Not just in the context of the Brexit agreement but what comes after. Ireland - as every other EU member - has a veto over any future EU-UK trade deal and could use it if Dublin felt the border wasn't adequately protected. In conclusion, the EU will wait until the last minute to make concessions over the Brexit deal on the table. It's not in the market to make changes here and there only for Theresa May to come back again and demand more. That's why the message from EU leaders to the prime minister has been loud and clear. They have told her: "Don't bother coming back to us in Brussels until you can convincingly (i.e. not just by a couple of votes) show us once and for all that the majority of parliament is behind you."

बोरिस जॉनसन उन पर जोर देते हैं, ग्राहम ब्रैडी उनके लिए कड़ी मेहनत कर रहे हैं, प्रधान मंत्री थेरेसा मे उनके लिए प्रार्थना कर रही हैं और डबलिन उनके बारे में सोचने पर बहुत चिंतित है लेकिन क्या यूरोपीय संघ वास्तव में कभी "हार मान लेगा" और बैकस्टॉप में बदलाव करेगा-जो आयरलैंड गणराज्य और उत्तरी आयरलैंड के बीच एक कठिन सीमा से बचने के लिए ब्रेक्सिट के बाद की गारंटी देता है?


The brutal secret of school sport initiations

Summary: Hazing rituals have long been a brutal secret among high school and college sport teams. But in the #MeToo era, can teenage victims shatter the code of silence? *This story includes some graphic descriptions of sexual assault*

By Robin Levinson-KingBBC News, Toronto When Allison Brookman arrived at Reed Custer High School to pick up her 14-year-old son Anthony from American football camp, she knew something was wrong. "You can kind of tell when your kid is hurt or sad," she told the BBC. "When I pulled up, I saw that same look in his face, that he was hurt." After some needling from his mother, he admitted he had just been "jumped" by four senior football players. But it wasn't until she took him to hospital to have his injuries examined that she heard what had really happened - that Anthony had been beaten up and sexually assaulted by members of the team as part of a violent hazing ritual. "The first guy who slapped me twice and knocked me down, he kicked me in my right side on my ribs," Anthony told CBS in an interview. "While the fourth one took my shorts off and they pulled my legs up so that he could get his finger to my, you know, body part." Allison says when they heard this in the hospital examining room, she and her husband were stricken with horror. "They didn't just beat you up, they tried fondling you?" she recalls asking. "At that point my son looked at us and said 'don't worry mom, don't worry dad, they didn't get in me.'" "That was probably the breaking point for both of us." Now the family is suing the Reed-Custer Community Unit School District 255 in Braidwood, Illinois, claiming it failed to prevent the sexual assault and for allegedly not properly responding to the incident once they became aware. Superintendent Mark Mitchell defends the schools actions and says the players were punished "according to the terms of the School District's Athletic Code of Conduct." The school is defending the legal action. Three of the alleged attackers have also been charged as juveniles with aggravated battery. They are not named as they were minors at the time of the incident. As their case winds through the courts, other eerily-similar incidents have also come to light. In Maryland, four 15-year-old members of the Damascus High School junior varsity football team are accused of raping a younger teammate with a broomstick as part of a hazing ritual, and trying to rape others. Prosecutors have told in chilling detail how the alleged attackers cornered four freshmen teammates in the locker room. "It's time," one of them said before they ganged up on the first victim, holding him down and sodomising him with the broom handle. They are being tried as adults. A fifth suspect is being charged as a juvenile. And in the Canadian city of Toronto, seven 14- and 15-year-old football players from St Michael's College School are facing charges of gang sex assault related to three separate hazing incidents. In one incident, a video allegedly showing a teammate being penetrated by a broom was shared online. These high-profile cases of sexual assault have reignited the call to end hazing in sports. And in the #MeToo era, many former victims are coming out to share their story. What is hazing? Hazing is when members of a group deliberately embarrass or harm new or prospective members as part of a rite of passage, or initiation into the group. "These are powerful forces that we're talking about, wanting to belong and wanting to be a part of a community," says Jay Johnson, an expert on hazing on sports teams who teaches at the University of Manitoba. Hazing rituals can run the gamut from relatively benign - forcing team members to carry the gear to matches, or chant silly songs on campus - to extreme forms of bullying, including physical and sexual abuse. It has been most commonly associated with university fraternities and sororities and athletic clubs, but high school groups are not immune. A 2000 survey by Alfred University found that about half of high school students reported participating in activities that qualified as hazing - while only 14% identified as being hazed. In the US, 44 states have banned hazing. In Canada, many universities and sport organisations have anti-hazing policies, though no federal law specifically targets the practice. Like in the St Michael's incident, police have often relied on assault laws when laying charges in hazing cases. In the UK, the Rugby Football Union, the sport's governing body, has said initiations at university clubs are putting people off wanting to continue playing. It claimed the traditions are partly to blame for an estimated 10,000 school leavers who recently stopped playing. When hazing turns criminal Most students who have been hazed have trouble realising they were, says Johnson, in part because a lot of the activities may seem harmless and like they were "just being a part of a team". But hazing can turn sinister, and the practice leads to several deaths a year, often from alcohol intoxication. Sexualised hazing is also fairly common, says Johnson. From Texas to Australia, there have been reports of ritual sex assault on school sports teams for years. A 2017 investigation by the Associated Press found 70 cases of teammate-on-teammate sexual assaults in US public schools between 2012-2017, which it called "the tip of the iceberg". The cases are shocking both in their violence and their similarity, often featuring some variation of older teammates sodomising victims with anything from a fist, to a Gatorade bottle to the nozzle of a carbon-dioxide tank. Earlier this year, an organisation called End Rape on Campus released a report saying that orientation week at Australian Universities is called "The Red Zone" by sexual assault support workers due to the combination of assaults, hazing rituals, and excessive alcohol consumption. Code of silence Sometimes all it takes is one bad apple to push a team to commit sexual assault, Johnson says. "All it takes is that one person in power, or at the top of the hierarchy... a veteran player who came in who was a bit on the sadistic side, who pushes that boundary of what it can become," he says. But hazing rituals usually stem from a toxic team culture, he says. Traditions are passed down from year-to-year, and today's aggressors were often last year's victims. Often, coaches and other authorities turn a blind eye, Johnson says. In their lawsuit, the Brookmans blame the school for allowing the hazing to fester on the team until it escalated to their son's assault. They also blame the school for allegedly not protecting their son from bullying after the incident. Allison says Anthony was harassed every day by fellow students who called him a "rat". Meanwhile, she says, the alleged attackers only received a three-day game suspension. It was the lack of action, she says, that led the family to sue. "We just wanted to do our best to let our son see that he was somebody who was worth fighting for," she says. Anthony now goes to a different school, and is seeing a therapist. The head coach resigned from the team, although he is still a teacher at the school. Superintendant Mitchell says the student-athletes were disciplined according to school guidelines. He says he is not legally allowed to comment on individual disciplinary cases. "We intend to vigorously defend these baseless allegations and protect the reputation of our fine School District and its staff," he said in a written statement. In Toronto, the hazing allegations led to the resignation of school principal Greg Reeves and school president Father Jefferson Thompson. Several alumni critiqued what they claim was the elite school's culture of "toxic masculinity" and claimed it had a "code of silence", especially once it was revealed that Principal Reeves did not immediately report the video of the alleged sexual assault. He said that he did so the next day, after first helping the victim to tell his parents, because caring for the victim had been his first priority. "This is a great school, and the majority of the teachers are great people. Where was the oversight? Like, what's going on with your teams? What is the mentality here? … There's a code of silence at the school," a parent told Postmedia news outlet. #MeToo in the locker room The Brookman's story, and the sexual assault cases in Maryland and Toronto, have come to light during an era of public reckoning about sexual violence. From Hollywood to the Supreme Court, victims have come forward to describe how powerful institutions silenced them to protect their attackers. Are youth sports next? Johnson says he believes the attention that is being paid to Anthony's case, and the sexual assault charges laid in Maryland and in Toronto, show that people are beginning to think differently about hazing. "I actually have hope that this might sort of be the flashpoint, for opening up the floodgates, similar to what happened to the #MeToo movement," Johnson says. "That more people might start to come forward and feel empowered to share their stories." There are signs that is starting to happen. In Toronto, prominent NHL players have revealed they were victims of sexual hazing while playing in junior ice hockey leagues, as have some alumni of St Michael's. Ultimately, that is why Anthony agreed to tell his story on the nightly news. "You see a lot of hazing on TV, but that's all it is, it's the news reporter maybe talking with the other news reporter and a picture of the school," Allison recalls her son telling her. "Nobody ever steps forward, I want people to actually see my face and see what people did to me."

हाई स्कूल और कॉलेज खेल टीमों के बीच हैजिंग अनुष्ठान लंबे समय से एक क्रूर रहस्य रहा है। लेकिन #MeToo युग में, क्या किशोर पीड़ित मौन के कोड को तोड़ सकते हैं? * इस कहानी में यौन हमले के कुछ ग्राफिक विवरण शामिल हैं *


What do you know about saving energy at home? Take our quiz

Summary: Do you think you know the most efficient ways to heat and insulate your home? Find out how well-informed you really are about saving energy with this quiz.

The advice in this quiz was developed with the help of the Energy Saving Trust, which offers detailed information on how to make your home more energy-efficient. The quiz was produced as part of a collection of special reports, features and analysis from across BBC News, marking the launch of the BBC Briefing. BBC Briefing is a mini-series of downloadable guides to the big issues in the news, with input from academics, researchers and journalists. It is the BBC's response to audiences demanding better explanation of the facts behind the headlines.

क्या आपको लगता है कि आप अपने घर को गर्म करने और इंसुलेट करने के सबसे कुशल तरीकों को जानते हैं? पता करें कि इस प्रश्नोत्तरी के साथ आप वास्तव में ऊर्जा बचाने के बारे में कितनी अच्छी तरह से सूचित हैं।


The battle over which flag to fly in America's Chinatowns

Summary: Later this week, thousands will head to Manhattan's historic Chinatown to celebrate Lunar New Year. But amidst all the pomp and the parades, revellers might also find themselves caught up in a healthy dose of politics, writes Zhaoyin Feng of the BBC's Chinese Service.

Almost every day, 76-year-old Fang Yanhua, the president of the Chinese-American group Suyuan Association, follows the same routine, which includes playing mah-jong for hours at the association's office at New York City's Chinatown in Lower Manhattan. Drastic change is unusual in the historic district. But a seemingly small change, made by Suyuan Association, has sparked a heated and profound debate within the community. In August 2018, for the first time in nearly a century, the association raised the People's Republic of China's five-starred red flag. It replaces another Chinese flag commonly known as the Blue Sky, White Sun and a Wholly Red Earth, the national flag of the Republic of China (ROC) , which ceased to be used, except in Taiwan, when the PRC was founded in 1949. "I am Chinese, so I support China," Mr Fang told the BBC. When he was born in southern China in 1943, the country still flew the ROC flag, which is now history in Fang's view. "The historical current has changed direction." Why are there two flags? The ROC was founded in 1912 and ruled by the Kuomintang party. In 1949, after the Chinese Communist Party defeated the Kuomintang in the civil war, the CCP founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing, and the Kuomintang retreated to Taiwan, claiming Taipei as the temporary capital. The five-starred red flag is PRC's national flag, while the ROC flag is now mainly displayed in Taiwan, which has been effectively independent but regarded by Beijing as a rebel region for more than 70 years. In mainland China, the ROC flag is usually only seen in museums and history television series, or as a sign of nostalgia to the "old China". In Taiwan, the PRC flag is largely considered as an unwelcome symbol of Beijing's aggression. In international events, Taiwan is banned from using the ROC's name, emblems and flags. In 2015, during a Washington DC event to commemorate the end of World War II in Asia, the Chinese Ambassador to the US Cui Tiankai cancelled his attendance at the last minute, due to a wreath displaying the ROC's national emblem. The two China flags are rarely displayed together, with overseas Chinatowns as one of the few exceptions. Which flag to fly Across a narrow alley from the Suyuan Association, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA), the oldest and largest Chinese American association founded in 1883, flies its ROC flag proudly. "I don't agree that changing to the PRC flag is the general trend. They (Suyuan Association) simply pursue a different political vision from ours," Eric Ng, President of CCBA, told the BBC. The president of the CCBA used to be called "Chinatown Mayor", but Mr Ng may be losing his grip. Most newly established Chinese-American groups fly the PRC flag, and across the country the PRC flag has become more and more ubiquitous in America's Chinatowns, as several older associations in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco changed over. Mr Ng attributed the phenomenon to a large influx of immigrants from mainland China in the recent years, who are politically pro-Beijing and now hold leadership positions in various immigrant associations. The rise of China plays a role too. "China is now stronger," Mr Fang says. His association had considered switching flag years ago, inspired by China's soaring political and economic status in the world. When the Suyuan Association adopted the new flag, anti-Beijing protestors gathered in the street outside. Mr Fang, now a US citizen, says he respects the rights to protest and dissent in the US, and acknowledges it's not the case in China. "In America, one can criticize President Donald Trump, but in China, one can't do the same to President Xi Jinping." But the flag switch was not at all political, insists 72-year-old Kuang Junlin, co-president of Suyuan Association. "We just wanted to express our love for the motherland," he told the BBC. He says the PRC flag represents "mother", while the ROC flag is "grandmother." Rising tension between Taipei and Beijing may be another contributing factor. Taiwan's Presidenjt Tsai Ing-wen has been vocal in her opposition to Beijing's attempts to exert authority over her country. In an interview with the BBC, she said China needs to "face reality" and show the island "respect". Beijing is unhappy with her stand, as are some Chinese-Americans. "We support a unified China and would not accept Taiwan independence," says Junlin Kuang, a former chairman of Suyuan Association. Meanwhile, Remus Li-Kuo Chen, a senior diplomat of Taipei, told media that the flag switch highlights mainland China's increased efforts of minimizing Taiwan's international space. Agree to disagree Almost all Chinese-American associations that switched flags made the decision by casting a direct vote among members. "We follow the American rule, as we live in America now," Mr Fang says. He prefers decision-making in the democratic way because "the association belongs to all of us". Only 100 out of the Suyuan Association's 700 members voted on the flag change, but among those who casted a vote, more than 95 percent supported the change. "The two China flags are flying side by side, mirroring the freedom to identify in the US," Nancy Yao Maasbach, President of the Museum of Chinese in America, told the BBC. The changing of flags is associated with a thoughtful, reflective and potentially painful conversation among Chinese immigrants about their mixed identity, she says. Though discontent with Suyuan Association's decision, Mr Ng agreed to disagree. Whenever Ng and Fang occasionally run into each other on the bustling streets in Chinatown, they will still nod at and greet each other in Taishanese, their shared mother tongue. "I believe in free will," Mr Ng says.

बीबीसी की चीनी सेवा के झाओइन फेंग लिखते हैं कि इस सप्ताह के अंत में, हजारों लोग चंद्र नव वर्ष मनाने के लिए मैनहट्टन के ऐतिहासिक चाइनाटाउन की ओर बढ़ेंगे। लेकिन सभी धूमधाम और परेड के बीच, उत्साही लोग खुद को राजनीति की एक स्वस्थ खुराक में भी फंस सकते हैं।


Destined to capture the world in black and white

Summary: American photographer Ralph Gibson has been transforming the world into stark black and white since the swinging 60s. From the soft and sensual to still life, Gibson's camera has been guided by the decision he made aged only 17 when he knew he was going to become a photographer.

"I just knew my destiny," says Gibson. "It was like being born rich or smart, a huge gift to know what I wanted." Gibson learned his trade in the US Navy before working as an assistant to photographic masters like Dorothea Lange and Robert Frank, both of whom helped shaped the way his photographic eye would develop. A year into his time with Lange, she invited Gibson, then aged 21, to show her his pictures. As she looked at them she remarked that the problem was he had no point of departure. Gibson agreed, but then asked: "What is a point of departure?" Her reply ran counter to the idea of the heroic photographer wandering the streets in search of some kind of truth. Instead she said he had to have an objective and a destination, and then he might intersect with something worth photographing. "Simply stated," says Gibson, "this has been the backbone of my career - if there was one quantum leap it was this." Yet it was to be some years before he realised this when he published his first book, The Somnambulist. In the intervening years, Gibson set out on a career as a photojournalist, eventually joining the prestigious Magnum Photo Agency, though his time there was short. "I was pursuing the documentary aesthetic," says Gibson. "I had that look, that approach to the medium but I wasn't being satisfied. "I wanted autonomy, all the credit, all the blame," says Gibson. He did not want to be at the mercy of the newspaper and magazine photo editors, who many photographers felt failed to show off their best frames. By then he had been working as a photographer for 10 years having started in the navy, aged 17. He met Frank, whose work The Americans has come to be one of the all-time great works of photography. Frank stressed the importance of originality, re-enforcing what Lange had already told him. Gibson was staying at the Chelsea Hotel in New York, soaking up the creative vibe, surrounded by artists from many genres, including the musician Leonard Cohen with whom he became friends. An accomplished guitarist, Gibson played guitar on Cohen's fourth album New Skin for the Old Ceremony. Returning to room 923 from a trip to Mexico, he pinned the image above, and a few others, on the wall. "I had an amazing epiphany," says Gibson. "I felt as though my camera had isolated a bandwidth which we will call a dream reality, it had plugged me into that. "It was a bit presumptuous, but as my point of departure it was not a bad idea." He knew then that this was to be his calling, he ceased all commercial work and set out to create what was to become his first book. "I don't know how I survived," says Gibson. "But I was young and didn't need much." During one weekend he created 36 pictures that formed the basis of The Somnambulist. It took three years to shoot the rest. "In that one inspired weekend I was at the same place that the great artists like Picasso or DaVinci go to all day, every day," says Gibson. "I had accessed that source, a Shangri-La that every artist searches for." The Somnambulist was published in 1970. "When I made that book I had two of my three Leicas [cameras] at the pawn shop and owed nine months rent on my room at the Chelsea Hotel. But quite by surprise, the book was very well received and so three months later I was established worldwide." He soon followed his first book with two more, Deja-Vu and Days at Sea, known as The Black Trilogy. He had discovered what he calls his "visual signature". Some of this he attributes to time spent on the set of Alfred Hitchcock films in Hollywood as a child, while his father worked as an assistant director. The close-ups and the intense light required by the orthochromatic film used at the time subconsciously embedding itself to re-emerge later. He also attributes some of it to his camera. He sees his Leica as his "Stradivarius" and has no need to constantly upgrade or add new lenses. "This camera is capable of anything I am capable of asking it to do," says Gibson, spending time refining his mastery of it. Now aged 80 he still feels he is only as good as his next picture and sees the visual literacy that has grown up in recent years around online photo forums as primarily a good thing, although he feels it can lead to work that is repetitive. "You go on Instagram and you could be looking at a picture by a great photographer or the work of an eight-year-old kid," says Gibson. "The software that makes everybody a photographer and gives everybody visual literacy also makes all their photos look the same. "When taking a photograph with a phone you are letting it find the picture for you, but if you put a rangefinder camera to your eye you are seeing what is in the frame and what is not, you are selecting what to photograph, it is predicated on your vision. "The upside is that if you look at serious practitioners today at art school, then young people are much more visually sophisticated than I was at the same point. "I always says your next great masterpiece is only three or four steps away, the question is which direction to go?" Ralph Gibson's work can be seen at Photo London until 19 May and at the London Leica Store until 23 June 2019. All photographs copyright Ralph Gibson.

अमेरिकी फोटोग्राफर राल्फ गिब्सन 60 के दशक से दुनिया को पूरी तरह से काले और सफेद रंग में बदल रहे हैं। नरम और कामुक से लेकर स्थिर जीवन तक, गिब्सन के कैमरे को केवल 17 साल की उम्र में किए गए निर्णय से निर्देशित किया गया है जब उन्हें पता था कि वह एक फोटोग्राफर बनने जा रहे हैं।


Airbus signs $25bn deal to sell 118 planes to Iran

Summary: Iran has signed a deal to buy 118 Airbus planes worth $25bn (€22bn; £17.4bn) at list prices in one of the biggest deals signed since Western sanctions against Tehran were lifted.

By Chris JohnstonBusiness reporter The agreement was signed during a visit by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to France. The order included 73 wide body and 45 narrow body jets, including 12 A380 superjumbos. Iran's decision to buy the A380 is a significant boost for Airbus. The company has struggled to convince airlines to order the world's biggest passenger aircraft in the past two years. Airbus only broke even on the A380 programme last year, a decade after it first took to the air. The huge deal will depend on Airbus winning US export licences because more than 10% of the parts for the planes are made in the United States. It also covers the training of pilots, airport operations and air traffic management support, the company said. The UK stands to benefit from the order as wings for Airbus planes such as the A320 are made in Broughton, north Wales. Iran is also interested in buying planes from Boeing, Airbus's arch rival. Transport Minister Abbas Akhoundi has estimated that his country will need 400 medium- and long-range planes, and 100 short-haul jets, in the next few years. An embargo imposed in 1995 has prevented Western manufacturers from selling equipment and spare parts to Iranian companies. Iranian airlines have about 140 planes that are an average of 20 years old, with many needing to be retired. Direct flights Flag carrier Iran Air has three weekly flights to London and two to Paris and Amsterdam respectively. It is also considering resuming direct flights to the US, which ended more than 30 years ago. About one million Iranians live in the US, with the thousands who fly home every year forced to change in London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Istanbul or Dubai. Iran Air chief executive Farhad Parvaresh said: "Today's announcement is a first step towards restoring the prestige of the civil aviation sector in the region, and alongside partners such as Airbus we will offer unparalleled services." Several European airlines, including Air France-KLM, plan to resume flights to Iran this year. Many European companies are lining up to strike deals with Iran following the lifting of sanctions.

ईरान ने तेहरान के खिलाफ पश्चिमी प्रतिबंधों को हटाए जाने के बाद से हस्ताक्षरित सबसे बड़े सौदों में से एक में सूची मूल्यों पर $25bn (€22bn; £ 17.4bn) के 118 एयरबस विमान खरीदने के लिए एक समझौते पर हस्ताक्षर किए हैं।


Risky road: China's missionaries follow Beijing west

Summary: When so-called Islamic State announced on 8 June that it had killed a Chinese man and woman in their mid-twenties in Pakistan's most volatile province, many would have assumed they were two of the thousands of workers that Beijing has sent to the country in the last few years.

China is investing more than $55bn (£43bn) in Pakistan, a key beneficiary of its grand plan to connect Asia and Europe with a new Silk Road paid for by Beijing. Such an ambitious project involves risk, and China is building major infrastructure projects in Balochistan, a Pakistani province home to a long-running separatist insurgency and an array of militant and jihadist groups. But Meng Lisi and Li Xinheng were not there to work on Chinese-funded projects. They were in the provincial capital, Quetta, on a clandestine mission: to spread the word of Christianity in the unlikeliest and most dangerous of places in conservative Muslim Pakistan. Their story draws attention to an unintended and often overlooked by-product of China's aggressive drive to develop new trading routes and carve out influence across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Hundreds and possibly even thousands of the country's growing cadre of Christian missionaries are along for the ride too - even if Beijing doesn't want them there. 'Why didn't they save our children?' The province of Zhejiang, on China's eastern coast, is one of the country's Christian centres. There are thousands of protestant churches here, both official ones permitted by the atheist Chinese Communist Party and so-called "underground" or "home" churches, whose members often meet private homes. Neither of the pair who ended up in Quetta were originally from Zhejiang, but they did join home churches in the province. Meng Lisi, 26, was originally from Hubei while Li Xinheng, 24, was from Hunan. Mr Li's mother, who only wanted to be named as Mrs Liu, said her son did not know Ms Meng before he travelled to Pakistan in September 2016. She says she thought he was going there to teach Mandarin, but quickly adds that as a Christian she would be "proud" if it was true that he was proselytising there. After armed men masquerading as policemen kidnapped the pair in Quetta on 24 May, the Pakistani military launched a three-day operation in a region south of the city called Mastung, targeting fighters allegedly linked to IS. It is in Mastung that IS later said it had carried out the killings, and Mrs Liu questions why the Pakistani government launched an attack in the area instead of trying to negotiate their release. "Why didn't the Chinese government tell the Pakistan side to save our children?" she asks. Mrs Liu says her phone is monitored, and authorities have been investigating the family. The leader of her local protestant home church, meanwhile, has "blacklisted" her. Since the young missionaries were killed, the Chinese authorities have repeatedly said they are continuing to investigate in response to queries from journalists. Why Chinese Christians have turned to underground churches But the government has responded with a crackdown at home, detaining at least four preachers from church groups in Zhejiang as part of a targeted blitz against house churches connected to overseas missions, says Bob Fu, whose US-based China Aid group supports Christians in the country. They have been released but are not allowed to continue their activities and are banned from giving media interviews, he says. China's up to 100m Christians have been subject to increased scrutiny and harassment since Xi Jinping became president in 2012, Mr Fu says, adding: "He has been worse than any leader since Chairman Mao". Crosses were torn down from more than 1,000 churches in Zhejiang between 2014 and 2016. Dismay as church crosses removed in China But incidents like the killings in Pakistan present a tricky dilemma for Chinese authorities. As a self-declared atheist government, news of Chinese Christian missionaries getting into trouble abroad is embarrassing. But at the same time, Beijing needs to show it can protect its citizens as it goes global. As Fenggang Yang, an expert on religion in China at Purdue University, puts it: "They thought Christianity was a western religion imported into China, so how can you export Christianity from China?" "This is new and the Chinese authorities are still struggling to figure out what to do with this." 'They said we were all sinners' When Meng Lisi and Li Xinhen were abducted in Quetta, they were first reported to have been working at a language school run by a South Korean. It was only after they were killed that Pakistani authorities accused the pair of being preachers who had misused business visas. Two Koreans were detained by Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency, and another 11 Chinese believed to be part of the missionary group were deported. Locals in Jinnah Town, a wealthy area of Quetta where the language centre was based, said the group, while distinctly visible, kept a low profile. They travelled around in rickshaws without security and stayed in a simple hostel in the centre of the city. "Sometimes I saw them singing and playing guitars," a local garbage collector said. In Kharotabad, a very conservative area in Quetta's west home to Pashtun tribes and Afghan refugees, some of the Chinese women went door-to-door speaking with women about Christianity. One boy said he overheard them saying "we are all sinners", and that they distributed leaflets, rings and bracelets. Another said he saw three women who spoke some Urdu and Pashto, and were "doing something about Christianity". He said his mother asked them if they were Chinese, and "they said yes". Is China-Pakistan 'silk road' a game-changer? But once local police got wind of this, the group were taken out of the area and told foreigners should not be there. Their efforts at proselytising didn't make much headway. Many locals given booklets and leaflets said they tore them up and threw them away. Back to Jerusalem In the 1940s, a movement began among Christians in eastern China to bring the gospel westwards - in the direction of Jerusalem. Evangelists travelled to China's western provinces but when Mao Zedong proclaimed the communist People's Republic of China in 1949, ushering in a repressive era for Christians, they settled there and the "Back to Jerusalem" movement lay dormant for decades. In the early 2000s, coinciding with China's emergence onto the global stage as a major power, the movement revived and Chinese missionaries began travelling out to what some evangelists call the "10/40 Window" - a zone between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator that stretches from West Africa to South East Asia and is home to the least-Christian countries. This zone overlaps significantly with the new Silk Road that China is trying to promote and in the last few years, as Chinese workers have gone overseas to these countries in droves, hidden among them have been hundreds, perhaps even thousands of missionaries, according to members of the movement. In countries like Iran, Iraq or Pakistan, Chinese missionaries have little trouble getting in, says Pastor Danny Lee, the director of Back to Jerusalem in the UK. "They let them straight through. They last thing they would think [a Chinese person could be] is a missionary," he said. The movement's ambitious goal, Pastor Lee says, is to eventually have 100,000 Chinese missionaries serving across 22 countries in the 10/40 zone. "Many of them have already left and are serving in places like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Burma and many other places as well," he said. And violence like that seen in Quetta does not appear to put them off. A young Chinese Christian couple sent to northern Iraq as missionaries told the South China Morning Post after the Pakistan killings that the incident was a reminder that they needed to be careful and sensitive in their work. But they said they still intended to stay there indefinitely, despite the risks. "I actually feel safer here," 25-year-old Michael said, referring to the repression faced by underground churches in China. Pastor Lee says Back to Jerusalem missionaries know the risks when they go abroad, and accept them. "They feel this is their calling and purpose and the plan that God has for them." All-weather friends Since the killings came to light, Pakistani authorities have vowed to better regulate the inflow of Chinese nationals to Pakistan. Militants have targeted Chinese nationals before but the attention the case received appears to have triggered significant concern among top-level officials about implications for relations with China. In Quetta, Chinese individuals could occasionally be seen on the streets before the May kidnapping but since then they have vanished. In the port of Gwadar, the centrepiece of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, frequent attacks by separatist insurgents have denied Chinese workers the freedom of unguarded movement on the streets, reporters there say. They remain in secure compounds and move under heavy security escort. Professor Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Pakistani political and security analyst, said that Chinese and Pakistani officials would have robustly discussed the Quetta case behind closed doors. "The likeliest outcome would be a combined set of procedures on both sides to ensure this doesn't happen again," he said. Indeed, China has continued to stress that it and Pakistan are "all-weather strategic partners". But Beijing knows that as more and more Chinese missionaries follow the new Silk Road, other cases like this are bound to occur. On 9 June, the day after IS announced the killing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying responded to a journalist. "You asked about the risk in the building of the Belt and Road," she said. "I shall say that going global comes with risks." Reporting by the BBC's Kevin Ponniah in London and M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad, BBC Chinese's Yashan Zhao in Hong Kong and BBC Urdu's Muhammad Kazim in Quetta

जब तथाकथित इस्लामिक स्टेट ने 8 जून को घोषणा की कि उसने पाकिस्तान के सबसे अस्थिर प्रांत में बीस के दशक के मध्य में एक चीनी पुरुष और महिला की हत्या कर दी है, तो कई लोगों ने मान लिया होगा कि वे उन हजारों श्रमिकों में से दो थे जिन्हें बीजिंग ने पिछले कुछ वर्षों में देश में भेजा है।


Body of missing woman Lydia Davies found in river

Summary: The body of a 46-year-old woman reported missing on Christmas Eve has been found in a river.

Gwent Police said the body of Lydia Davies, from Monmouth, was found in the River Wye on Saturday at about 15:30 GMT. It said formal identification had taken place and her death was not being treated as suspicious. Ms Davies' next of kin and the coroner had been informed, it added. Related Internet Links Gwent Police

क्रिसमस की पूर्व संध्या पर लापता हुई 46 वर्षीय महिला का शव नदी में मिला है।


What are 'rare earths' used for?

Summary: "Rare earths" are a group of 17 chemically similar elements crucial to the manufacture of many hi-tech products. Despite their name, most are abundant in nature but are hazardous to extract. Most "rare earth" elements have uses in several different fields, as well as those listed below.

Neodymium This is used to make powerful magnets used in loudspeakers and computer hard drives to enable them to be smaller and more efficient. Magnets containing neodymium are also used in green technologies such as the manufacture of wind turbines and hybrid cars. Lanthanum This element is used in camera and telescope lenses. Compounds containing lanthanum are used extensively in carbon lighting applications, such as studio lighting and cinema projection. Cerium Used in catalytic converters in cars, enabling them to run at high temperatures and playing a crucial role in the chemical reactions in the converter. Lanthanum and cerium are also used in the process of refining crude oil. Praseodymium Used to create strong metals for use in aircraft engines. Praseodymium is also a component of a special sort of glass, used to make visors to protect welders and glassmakers. Gadolinium Used in X-ray and MRI scanning systems, and also in television screens. Research is also being done into its possible use in developing more efficient refrigeration systems. Yttrium, terbium, europium Important in making televisions and computer screens and other devices that have visual displays as they are used in making materials that give off different colours. Europium is also used in making control rods in nuclear reactors. Source: British Geological Survey, Royal Society of Chemistry

"दुर्लभ पृथ्वी" कई उच्च तकनीक उत्पादों के निर्माण के लिए महत्वपूर्ण 17 रासायनिक रूप से समान तत्वों का एक समूह है। उनके नाम के बावजूद, अधिकांश प्रकृति में प्रचुर मात्रा में हैं लेकिन निकालने के लिए खतरनाक हैं। अधिकांश "दुर्लभ पृथ्वी" तत्वों का उपयोग कई अलग-अलग क्षेत्रों में किया जाता है, साथ ही जो नीचे सूचीबद्ध हैं।


Alice Levine to leave Radio 1

Summary: Alice Levine has announced she's leaving Radio 1.

The broadcaster, who's been with the station for nine years, says it's "the end of an era". "I've decided it's the right time for me to hang up the headphones (not a thing) and say goodbye to Radio 1," she wrote on Instagram. The 34-year-old currently hosts the weekend afternoon show with co-host Dev Griffin - her last show will be on Sunday 9 August. Alice says she's "met friends for life" and thanked everyone at Radio 1, including the producers who "patiently stood with me whilst I crashed the vocals, pressed the wrong buttons and had a prolonged crisis of confidence in those early off-air days (and beyond!)." During her time at Radio 1 Alice presented the 10pm until midnight show with Phil Taggart, before taking on a weekend afternoon show and then the Weekend Breakfast Show. She picked up a Music Week Best Music Show Award along the way and in her own words - "had a dead nice time". "If you've listened to the show or got in touch with one of your amazing stories over the years, I can't thank you enough. To make jokes all day has just been a gift of a job!" Alice hasn't revealed what she's doing next but alongside her BBC presenting duties she's been one-third of one of the world's most popular podcasts - My Dad Wrote A Porno. Fellow broadcaster Clara Amfo, who's presented from the Brits red carpet alongside Alice over the last few years, was one of the first to react. Alice's announcement comes not long after Maya Jama revealed that she was leaving the station, and a week after 1Xtra Breakfast Show presenter Dotty announced she was leaving Radio 1's sister station. Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

एलिस लेविन ने घोषणा की है कि वह रेडियो 1 छोड़ रही हैं।


Two councils in Norfolk to combine IT services

Summary: Two councils in Norfolk are hoping to save more than £1m by combining their information and communication technology (ICT) departments.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council has joined Norfolk County Council to make the savings over five years. Great Yarmouth's ICT will managed by the county council. Current borough council staff will become part of the county's team. Barry Stone, the borough council's deputy leader, welcomed the move. "Sharing the county council's networks and technology, and the pooling of expertise of staff from both councils, will make the borough council more resilient. "The savings identified as part of this arrangement will be reinvested into improving the way the borough council uses IT."

नॉरफ़ॉक में दो परिषदें अपने सूचना और संचार प्रौद्योगिकी (आई. सी. टी.) विभागों को मिलाकर 1 मिलियन पाउंड से अधिक की बचत करने की उम्मीद कर रही हैं।


Man arrested over sexual assault in Jersey

Summary: A 27-year-old man has been arrested after a man was sexually assaulted in Jersey.

The incident took place in the Maufant area of St Martin at about 04:00 GMT on Saturday. Police said the suspect was arrested on suspicion of break and entry and sexual touching without consent. The man remains in custody while investigations continue, the States of Jersey Police said. Related Internet Links States of Jersey Police

जर्सी में एक व्यक्ति के यौन उत्पीड़न के बाद एक 27 वर्षीय व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Term-time holiday: What are the rules?

Summary: A father from the Isle of Wight who took his daughter out of school for a family holiday has lost his legal battle in the Supreme Court. So what are the rules around term-time holidays and how have they changed in recent years?

Why did ministers crack down on term-time holidays? With the cost of trips abroad rocketing during the school holidays, it is hardly surprising many parents are tempted to take their children away during term time. But this obviously means pupils missing lessons, and the government says there is clear evidence doing so impairs children's attainment. In 2012, the then Education Secretary, Michael Gove, said: "We need to do more to discourage holidays taken during term time: the rate of these absences in primary schools is double that in secondary schools." Ministers were concerned that because of guidelines dating back to 2006, some parents mistakenly believed they were entitled to two weeks' annual holiday during term time as a right. What did the guidelines actually say? The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 said head teachers could grant leave of absence of up to 10 days for the purposes of a family holiday during term time in "special circumstances". Head teachers could also grant extended leave for more than 10 days in "exceptional circumstances". And the government said it had long recognised schools were experiencing problems with parents using this threshold as a right, rather than as a rough guide for a particular sort of situation. What changes did ministers make to the guidelines? They removed all references to family holidays from the regulations and said head teachers could not grant any leave of absence to pupils during term time without "exceptional circumstances". This came into force in September 2013. They also highlighted and tightened the procedure for local education authorities fining parents for unauthorised pupil absences. Under the 2006 guidelines, parents could be fined £60 for the unauthorised absence of a child, if it was paid within 28 days, rising to £120 if it was paid within 29 to 42 days. In September 2013, the timescale for payment was reduced to 21 days at £60 and 28 days at £120 respectively. The fines were to be levied by local authorities for absences in maintained schools, and by academies where absences were from academies. What was the reaction? Numerous polls of parents suggested the policy was not very popular, with some arguing they should be able to take term-time holidays if they were booked in advance, for a strict number of days and not at a crucial time. The National Union of Teachers suggested there were important cultural and social benefits to going on holiday and that this should not become the preserve of the middle classes. The Local Government Association agreed, saying the law was not really practical. The LGA said families often struggled with the high cost of trips out of holiday time and called for a common-sense approach. Nonetheless, between September 2013 and August 2014 almost 64,000 fines were issued for unauthorised absences, according to local authority data. However, different LEAs appear to have taken quite different approaches to cases of unauthorised absence, and the government website invites parents to check with their own local authority if and when they may face a fine for the non-attendance of a child. All clear then? Well, not really. The head teachers supposed to be making these decisions said they wanted detailed guidance on what constituted exceptional circumstances. National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) general secretary Russell Hobby said: "Head teachers already have discretion over the granting of absence during term time. "They rightly prioritise learning over holidays." But to clarify matters, the NAHT published guidance on how heads could arrive at a decision to authorise absence or not, adding there could be no absolute rules on this subject. Term-time was for learning, it said, adding children and families already had 175 days off school, including weekends and school holidays, to spend time together. An absence for the bereavement of a close family member, a funeral or important religious observances could be counted as exceptional, it said. But if an event could reasonably be scheduled outside of term time, then it would not be normal to authorise absence, the guidelines added. Heads would be expected to determine in advance the exact number of days a pupil may have away from school. In the case of unauthorised absence, the decision to prosecute or seek a fine then rests with local authorities. What are the rules elsewhere in the UK? In Scotland there are no fines for parents who take their children on holiday in term-time. But the Scottish government advises that schools will not normally give a family permission to take pupils out of school for holidays. It is up to education authorities to decide sanctions for persistent truancy. Likewise in Northern Ireland term-time holidays are considered unauthorised absences but there are no fines. Parents who come before the courts for absenteeism are those who have allowed their children to truant over a long period. In Wales families are allowed up to 10 days of term-time holiday at the head's discretion. In January Huw Lewis, the education minister for Wales, wrote to councils saying it was wrong to tell head teachers to ban all term-time leave. His intervention followed a petition by parents last year against fines for taking holidays in term-time.

आइल ऑफ वाइट के एक पिता, जो अपनी बेटी को पारिवारिक छुट्टी के लिए स्कूल से बाहर ले गए थे, सुप्रीम कोर्ट में अपनी कानूनी लड़ाई हार गए हैं। तो टर्म-टाइम छुट्टियों के बारे में नियम क्या हैं और हाल के वर्षों में वे कैसे बदल गए हैं?


Hurricane Irma medical students transfer courses to UCLan

Summary: Medical students whose studies on a Caribbean island were disrupted by Hurricane Irma are to resume their courses in Preston.

About 600 students and 30 staff from the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (AUC) will transfer to University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). They are visiting to finalise details. AUC already has links with East Lancashire Hospitals Trust (ELHT), which in turn works with UCLan. Hurricane Irma devastated Sint Maarten, the Dutch-French island where the students complete their first two years of pre-clinical medical school. Students and staff will be taught at UCLan, staying in halls of residence and houses within Preston. Clinical skills training will take place at NHS sites in East Lancashire.

कैरेबियन द्वीप पर जिन चिकित्सा छात्रों की पढ़ाई तूफान इरमा से बाधित हुई थी, वे प्रेस्टन में अपने पाठ्यक्रम फिर से शुरू करने वाले हैं।


I caught Ebola in Guinea and survived

Summary: The number of people who have contracted the Ebola virus in Guinea, according to the World Health Organization, has risen to 208 - and 136 of them have died. About half of these cases have been confirmed in a laboratory - earlier cases were not tested.

There is no cure for Ebola but with early medical support some people's bodies are able to develop antibodies to fight it off. One survivor, who asked not to be named, told the BBC his story. Testimony: The symptoms started with headaches, diarrhoea, pains in my back and vomiting. The first doctor I saw at a village health centre said it was malaria - it was only when I was brought to a special unit at the hospital in [the capital] Conakry that I was told I had the Ebola virus. I felt really depressed - I had heard about Ebola so when the doctors told me, I was very scared. I tried to be positive - I was thinking about death, but deep inside I thought my time had not come yet and I would get over it. That's how I overcame the pain and the fear. Doctors from the charity Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) were here to comfort me and give their moral support. I tried to stay positive although I was scared when I saw my relatives dying in front of me. There was a moment when I thought I might die when I lost two of my uncles and their bodies were taken away. On that night none of us could sleep - we thought we would never make it to the morning. Some doctors from MSF came to collect and wrap the bodies and sterilise the area. It all happened in front of us. A short while after I was admitted to the hospital for treatment I started feeling better, step by step. 'Shook my hands' At first I was scared to eat as I thought I would be sick but after a while I took a few drops of water and realised it was OK and the diarrhoea gradually stopped as well. The doctors would come to see me and ask questions and one day nearly all my answers were "no" - the doctors were pleased and I realised that I would make it. That was a very powerful feeling for me. It was a great feeling when I walked out of the hospital. We had a little celebration with the doctors, all the nurses and the people who had been waiting for me. They took pictures of me, they shook my hands - I saw that they felt safe touching me and I realised I was better. I was really happy on that day. Now I feel good although I sometimes get some pain in my joints. I prefer not be identified in the media - many people are aware that I had the disease but many others are not. We have been through difficult times - people were afraid of us. You know about African solidarity - usually when someone dies people visit you but when we lost one and then two, three, four members of our family, nobody came to visit us and we realised we were being kept at bay because of fear. It gets even worse if everybody hears about your condition on the radio and television. Even people close to us, neighbours and relatives, are met with suspicion when they mention they know us. Immediately the other person takes two or three steps back for fear of contracting the virus. People are very poorly informed about the disease. Nine people in my family had the virus in total. My wife and my cousin survived too, so it is the three of us out of nine. We were very affected by the deaths of our relatives but we were also relieved that not all of us had died. It would have been such a catastrophe if we had all passed away. This was a lesson on a spiritual level and it has changed the way I look at life. The short time we spent in hospital has really transformed us. I feel lucky. I feel very happy to be alive. This interview was featured on Newsday on the BBC World Service.

विश्व स्वास्थ्य संगठन के अनुसार गिनी में इबोला वायरस से संक्रमित लोगों की संख्या बढ़कर 208 हो गई है-और उनमें से 136 की मृत्यु हो गई है। इनमें से लगभग आधे मामलों की पुष्टि एक प्रयोगशाला में की गई है-पहले के मामलों का परीक्षण नहीं किया गया था।


Gardaí send file to the DPP over the 1981 Stardust fire

Summary: Gardaí have sent a new file to the DPP in connection with the 1981 Stardust nightclub disaster.

Forty-eight people died in the fire in Dublin on St Valentine's Day. The police action follows a complaint made by a researcher concerning evidence that five of the victims were already dead before the alarm was raised about a fire in the seating area. A Garda spokesperson said they could not comment on the new file.

गार्डाई ने 1981 के स्टारडस्ट नाइट क्लब आपदा के संबंध में डी. पी. पी. को एक नई फाइल भेजी है।


Council paid £8,600 to end Porsche contract

Summary: More than £8,600 was paid by a council to get out of a hire contract for a Porsche its former boss used to drive.

Pembrokeshire council cancelled the contract after former chief executive Bryn Parry Jones left the council in October. Last week it was instructed to reveal the full cost within 35 days. Coun Jacob Williams published the amount on his website, and the council later confirmed it was correct. He said they had to pay four months' leasing costs after the contract ended.

एक परिषद द्वारा एक पोर्श के लिए किराए के अनुबंध से बाहर निकलने के लिए £8,600 से अधिक का भुगतान किया गया था, जिसका पूर्व मालिक गाड़ी चलाता था।


Murdered journalist Javier Valdez on the risks of reporting in Mexico

Summary: Javier Valdez knew he was living on borrowed time.

An award-winning reporter who had fearlessly chronicled Mexico's deadly drug trade, he remarked at his book launch last year that being a journalist "is like being on a blacklist". The government's promises of protection are next to worthless if the cartels decide they want you dead. As Valdez put it: "Even though you may have bullet-proofing and bodyguards, [the gangs] will decide what day they are going to kill you." The 50-year-old was dragged from his car and shot dead on Monday, in Culiacan city, Sinaloa, where he lived and worked. Over a three-decade career, Valdez founded the Ríodoce newspaper in Sinaloa, the north-western state blighted by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's powerful drug cartel. He was also a correspondent for the national newspaper La Jornada, and the author of several books, including Los Morros del Narco [The Children of the Drug Trade], which followed young people through Mexico's bloody underworld. In public, he often spoke of the risks facing reporters in Mexico, which has one of the world's least free presses. His words illustrate both the cost of printing the truth, and the bravery of those who continue to do so. Hand grenades and threat calls Last month, Valdez told the freedom of expression organisation Index on Censorship that a hand grenade had been thrown into Ríodoce's offices in 2009 - but had "only caused material damages". "I've had phone calls telling me to stop investigating certain murders or drug bosses. I've had to suppress important information because they could have my family killed if I mention it," he said. "Sources of mine have been killed or disappeared… The government couldn't care less. They do nothing to protect you. There have been many cases and this keeps happening." According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 40 journalists have been murdered in Mexico since 1992. Fears for family The journalist's brother Rafael Valdez told Agence France-Presse that he had tried not to expose loved ones to the hazards of his profession. "He was very reserved when it came to his work," Rafael said. "He never talked about it so as not to drag people into it. "I asked him several times whether he was afraid. He said yes, he was a human being. So I asked him why he risked his life, and he replied: 'It is something I like doing, and someone has to do it. You have to fight to change things.'" Sometimes, reporters are forced to flee Mexico under threat of death - knowing they will be murdered if they ever return. "Now they must be content seeing their homes through the internet. They have been banished from their families for the rest of their lives," Valdez told Revista Desocupado [in Spanish]. Murdered friends In March, Valdez's colleague Miroslava Breach - a crime correspondent for La Jornada - was killed by being shot eight times in front of one of her children. The gunmen left a note saying: "For being a loudmouth." Valdez raged against her death on Twitter, writing: "Let them kill us all, if that's the death sentence for reporting this hell. No to silence." Other Mexican journalists killed in 2017 include freelancers Maximino Rodríguez and Cecilio Pineda Birto, CPJ records show. Narcos in the newsroom Mexico's violent cartels are well known for using informants. While researching his book Narcoperiodismo [Narco Journalism], Valdez realised that local newspapers were being regularly infiltrated by gang spies. "Serious journalism with ethics is very important in times of conflict, but unfortunately there are journalists who are involved with narcos," he told Index on Censorship. "This has made our work much more complicated, and now we have to protect ourselves from politicians, narcos and even other journalists." In Narco Journalism, he describes how reporters are exiled, murdered, corrupted, terrorised by the cartels, or betrayed by police or politicians in the pay of the gangs. He told Revista Desocupado: "It is not only about the criminal drugs trade, now they kidnap, extort; they have control of the sale of arms, beer, taxis; they control hospitals, police officers, the army, people in the government and those who finance them. The omnipresent narco is everywhere." A lonely battle Valdez felt frustrated and alone in his fight to keep an independent newspaper running. "I don't see a society that stands by its journalists or protects them," he said. "At Ríodoce we don't have any support from business owners to finance projects. If we went bankrupt and shut down nobody would do anything [to help]. We have no allies." He feared his newspaper would not outlast this apathy. "We need more publicity, subscriptions and moral support - but we're on our own. We're not going to survive much longer in these circumstances." For Valdez, Mexico had become accustomed to death, evil and abuses - a nation resigned to serial murder, because acceptance is easier than fighting. But as recently as two months ago he was determined to persevere, telling an interviewer: "Inside me there is a pessimistic bastard, distressed and sometimes sullen, who feels like a somewhat bitter old man with watery eyes, who is bothered by having his solitude spoiled. But he dreams. I have an idea of another country, for my family and other Mexicans, that does not continue to fall into an abyss from which there may be no return." Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto has condemned Valdez's killing as an "outrageous crime", and said his government remained committed to press freedom. Last week, Mexico appointed a new prosecutor to investigate crimes against freedom of expression - including the murder of journalists. Sinaloa state attorney general Juan Jose Rios said Valdez's shooting was under investigation. He promised the authorities would protect Valdez's relatives and colleagues, telling reporters: "Above all else, we are interested in Javier's family."

जेवियर वाल्डेज़ को पता था कि वह उधार लिए हुए समय पर जी रहे हैं।


Ukraine fire kills 17 in care home near Kiev

Summary: Seventeen people have died in a fire at a building housing elderly people in a village near Ukraine's capital Kiev.

The fire broke out in the early hours of Sunday in a two-storey building housing some 35 people. "Emergency services units saved 18 people, five of whom have been hospitalised with burns of varying degrees of severity," Ukraine's emergencies ministry said. Police have detained the man in charge of the building. Officials said it was being used to house the elderly people illegally. Prime Minister Volodymyr Groisman described the fire as a "terrible tragedy that has caused irreparable loss" and said the government offered "sincere condolences" to the victims' families, Ukrainian media reported.

यूक्रेन की राजधानी कीव के पास एक गाँव में बुजुर्गों के रहने वाली एक इमारत में आग लगने से सत्रह लोगों की मौत हो गई है।


We Are Stoke-on-Trent: Welcome to the Chatty Cafes

Summary: Can a Latte change your life? It's often said answers can't be found at the bottom of a glass - but what if there's a solution at the bottom of a coffee mug? Isolated people have found that sharing over a hot drink means "the lonely don't need to be alone". Welcome to the Chatty Cafes.

By Ben PerrinBBC News As part of the BBC's We Are Stoke-on-Trent project, residents have been speaking about the issues that matter to them. Among the topics is the work being done to bring together lonely pensioners under a service hailed a lifesaver. The organised meetings - known as Chatty Cafes - create a safe and social environment, with regular get-togethers in the Stoke, Hanley and Fenton areas of the city. They are led by support service CareLink which seeks to look after vulnerable people, offering them "understanding, friendship and welfare checks". But over coffee, something deeper seems to be happening. Meaningful friendships are forming, with many users bonding over a shared feeling of isolation or grief - and at the same time, fighting the problem. "The lonely don't need to be alone," one member said. Karen Thompson and Gwen Karakawa both lost loved ones over the last five years and felt lonely on their own. It was talking about it that helped. Gwen, 67, said she had taken so well to the group's ethos, she felt comfortable sharing her feelings on the sudden death of her son. "It just felt right to talk about it as I live by myself," she said. "I was told I was brave and given big hugs." She told the BBC: "Chatty Cafes are such a brilliant idea. It helps you through tough times and brings everyone together just by talking." CareLink is looking out for the interests of 180 people and is supported by five staff members and 28 volunteers. It secured Lottery funding to start the Chatty Cafes in March. Some of the bonds being formed are so strong, the Cafes' chatters are planning trips away. Among them are Julia Fisher, 79, and Gladys Powell, 84, who said: "The group is a fantastic idea and I enjoy being part of it. I find it hard to leave my home so this is helping." But as well as support, participants also talk of a new start; a sense that setbacks could have taken over until Chatty Cafes offered refreshed purpose and direction. Joan Scarratt, 91, lost her 88-year-old husband Bernard last year. She said it felt good to socialise again. "You need to keep the mind ticking over and I enjoy coming to this group," she said. Neil Williamson, 68, organises trips to theatre shows for members and says joining has given him a "new lease of life". He said: "I'd be home alone staring at four walls. I look forward to seeing everyone." And calling the scheme a lifesaver, ex-miner Peter Owen, 72, sees the bigger picture: "The lonely don't need to be alone." Councillor Ann James, from Stoke-on-Trent City Council, which supports the scheme, said: "The Chatty Cafe is a brilliant initiative that helps to combat loneliness in the city and encourage people to talk to one another - a simple conversation can make a real difference to people's lives." This article was created as part of We are Stoke-on-Trent, a BBC project with the city's people to tell the stories that matter to them.

क्या एक लेट आपके जीवन को बदल सकता है? यह अक्सर कहा जाता है कि जवाब एक गिलास के नीचे नहीं मिल सकते हैं-लेकिन क्या होगा यदि एक कॉफी मग के नीचे कोई समाधान है? अलग-थलग लोगों ने पाया है कि एक गर्म पेय पर साझा करने का मतलब है "अकेले रहने की आवश्यकता नहीं है।" चैटी कैफे में आपका स्वागत है।


Extradite LTTE chief - Congress

Summary: India's ruling Congress party has urged Sri Lanka to hand over the Tamil rebel leader if he is caught alive in the current military offensive in the north of the island.

The party's chief spokesman, Veerappa Moily, said the rebel leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, should extradited to face trial in India for his alleged involvement in the assassination of the former Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. His comments came amid reports that Sri Lankan troops have been continuing their offensive a day after capturing the rebels' administrative headquarters in the town of Kilinochchi. India outlawed the Tamil Tigers after the assassination of the former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, allegedly by a woman suicide bomber from the Tigers.

भारत की सत्तारूढ़ कांग्रेस पार्टी ने श्रीलंका से आग्रह किया है कि अगर तमिल विद्रोही नेता द्वीप के उत्तर में वर्तमान सैन्य हमले में जीवित पकड़े जाते हैं तो उन्हें सौंप दिया जाए।