Mohamed Merah: Who was Toulouse gunman?

Summary: Mohamed Merah, the man believed to be the gunman on a scooter who killed seven people in south-western France, was killed in an armed siege after police surrounded his block of flats in Toulouse.

A 23-year-old French citizen of Algerian origin, he had long been known to the French authorities as a petty criminal but latterly his links to Islamist extremism drew attention. The man who reportedly told police negotiators he was a member of al-Qaeda had recently made visits to Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he was found in the Taliban heartland of Kandahar. He reportedly admitted the shootings in which three unarmed French soldiers were killed, as well as a rabbi and three small children at a Jewish school. Merah reportedly held one little girl, Myriam Monsonego, by her hair to shoot her in the head. According to French prosecutors, he had expressed no regrets other than "not having claimed more victims" and was proud of having "brought France to its knees". He said he had been motivated by the fate of the Palestinians, the French military presence in Afghanistan and France's ban on the full veil, prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters. Juvenile delinquent Mohamed Merah was from Toulouse where he grew up on a housing estate in Les Izards, a troubled district in the north-east of the city with a large North African population. He later moved to the block of flats on Sergent Vigne Street, in the quieter, south-eastern district of Cote Pavee. From a family of five children, the suspect was largely raised by his mother, who was divorced. He was a mechanic by trade, according to French magazine Le Point, and loved scooters in particular. He was also a keen footballer. He was considered a juvenile delinquent. As a minor he was reported at least 15 times for acts of violence, and was described as having "a violent profile from childhood and behavioural troubles". First arrested in 2005, he served two short prison terms, in 2007 and 2009. His convictions reportedly include thefts and driving offences. In February, he was found guilty of driving without a licence and was due to appear in court in April. However, two of his friends said he was a "nice guy" who "got on well with everyone", JDD reports. One of them, Samir, said Merah had been seen in a Toulouse night club only last week. "I served in the army and he never said anything to me about it," he added. "I am also shocked he killed North Africans. We can't believe it." Others give a different picture. 'Waster' An unnamed young man who ran into him in a rai (popular Arab music) night club around the time of the first shooting told the French magazine Le Nouvel Observateur: "He's a waster, a layabout. "A loner. Not a serious guy... Sometimes he had his hair long, sometimes short, sometimes red." An unnamed former paratrooper interviewed by local newspaper La Depeche was a friend of the first victim, Sgt Imad Ibn Ziaten, killed on 11 March. On Saturday night, 17 March, he ran into Merah, whom he also knew, and unwittingly embraced him, as is the custom. "On Saturday, he even said to me, you are speaking to an angel," the ex-paratrooper said. "I didn't understand at the time." La Depeche suggests the "angel" may have been a reference to the suspect's jihadist beliefs. 'Al-Qaeda! al-Qaeda!' When he attacked paratroopers in Montauban on 15 March, Merah shouted "Allahu Akbar", or "God is great" in Arabic, prosecutor Francois Molins said, quoting police who had viewed video of the attack. He reportedly became radicalised years ago while in prison, according to Le Point. French media reports say that two years ago he forced a boy to watch bloody videos from Afghanistan, then beat up the boy's sister after the boy's mother intervened. How French police tracked down the gunman Several witnesses in Les Izards are quoted by La Depeche as saying Merah turned up outside the family's home dressed in camouflage and waving a sword, shouting "al-Qaeda! al-Qaeda!" The mother lodged a complaint but there was apparently no prosecution, La Depeche adds. When Merah's mother was asked by police to assist in police negotiations, she reportedly refused, saying she no longer had any influence over her son. French lawyer Christian Etelin, who defended the suspect in non-terrorist proceedings in recent years, told AFP news agency he had not given the impression of being a fanatic and had never talked about Islam to him. "But two years ago I learnt that he had suddenly become radicalised and had left for Afghanistan," the lawyer added. Merah visited Pakistan in 2011, from mid-August to mid-October. He had already visited the country in 2010, when he was stopped by Afghan police over the border in Kandahar, the former stronghold of the Taliban. Handed over to US forces, he was sent back to France, La Depeche writes. France's domestic intelligence agency (DCRI) was aware of his foreign trips and suspected him of radical Islamist activity. 'Such violence' Interior Minister Claude Gueant revealed that Merah had been asked by intelligence officials in November 2011 to explain his visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan and had shown them photographs to prove he had been a tourist. Mr Gueant defended the DCRI by saying it followed "a lot of people engaged in radical Islamism". "Expressing ideas and manifesting Salafist opinions is not grounds enough for prosecution," he added. Days after the final shooting, Merah was tracked down by police to his flat where he opened fire when they tried to approach him. Said to be armed with a Kalashnikov assault rifle, an Uzi machine-gun and several handguns, he resisted arrest for nearly a day and a half. In his last conversation with police, on the evening of 21 March, he refused to surrender and threatened to kill police officers, Mr Gueant said in a detailed statement soon after news of his death. When RAID police commandos moved into the first-floor flat in the morning, he opened fire from the bathroom, shooting so heavily that an experienced commando later told the minister he had never seen an "assault of such violence". Merah jumped through a window with a gun in his hand, still firing, Interior Minister Gueant said. He continued shooting, at which point a RAID commando killed him with a single shot to the head, Francois Molins said. Three police officers were injured, one seriously, during the operation.

मोहम्मद मेराह, जिसे स्कूटर पर सवार बंदूकधारी माना जाता है, जिसने दक्षिण-पश्चिमी फ्रांस में सात लोगों की हत्या कर दी थी, टूलूज़ में पुलिस द्वारा उसके फ्लैटों के ब्लॉक को घेरने के बाद एक सशस्त्र घेराबंदी में मारा गया था।


Are 'geek' and 'nerd' now positive terms?

Summary: Campaigners in Sweden are trying to force a dictionary to change its definition of "nerd". But after two decades of "reappropriation" has "nerd" - and its sister word "geek" - now completely lost its derogatory connotations?

By Kathryn WestcottBBC News Magazine In the 1984 film Revenge of the Nerds the rousing final speech of one of the protagonists starts with the statement: "I'm a nerd." Its plot may be cartoonish but the film reveals a certain cultural backdrop - to be a nerd was to be socially awkward, even socially inferior. Jocks, those who were good at sport, or other socially successful groups, usually ended up winning. To turn that on its head could form the basis for comedy. Things have changed. The Social Network in 2010 came in a very different social milieu. Now a nerd, or a "geek", can be a driven Machiavellian bent on success - Gordon Gekko in a zip-up hoodie. Today when people think of "geeks" and "nerds" they might very well name the likes of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg - people whose imagination and grasp of the technical made them billions. Historic geeks are celebrated, with Alan Turing and Nikola Tesla's legacies provoking great passions. New York Times blogger and geeky statistician Nate Silver has been hailed as an unexpected star of the US presidential election after correctly predicting the outcome. "Memo to wannabe presidents: hire geeks, not pundits," advises this week's New Scientist magazine. Even sportsmen unabashedly refer to themselves as "nerds". Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings, who has just been voted "sexiest man of the year", said of the honour: "It's a little weird because I'm a nerd video game player." Singles on dating websites define themselves in their profiles as "nerds" and "geeks" - in a positive way - and there is no end of blogs listing stars like Natalie Portman as geeks or listing "nerdy power couples" (like Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter). A slew of comedies over the past few years have had geeks as heroes, such as Tim Bisley - the comics, video game and Star Wars-obsessive of Spaced - and Sheldon Cooper, the precocious physicist of The Big Bang Theory. In Skyfall, Bond's gadget guru Q has evolved into a slick computer geek. There's been a long period of "reappropriation" of the words "geek" and "nerd". The very first depiction of a "nerd" is believed to have been a hairy, critter created by children's author-illustrator Dr Seuss. Merriam-Webster Dictionary mentions the 1950 book If I Ran the Zoo in its etymology as the leading contender as source for the term. "The first written reference was in 1951, which lends credence to the Dr Seuss theory," says associate editor Kory Stamper. That year, this definition was published in Newsweek: "In Detroit, someone who once would be called a drip or a square is now, regrettably, a nerd." According to Stamper, the word nerd was "pretty much under the radar" until the late 1970s when the computer boom prompted a rise. The Revenge of the Nerd films cemented in people's minds the image of a socially awkward, brainy group that particularly dealt with technology. "There was a dip in its usage for a while before becoming more popular as more people started learning html and building their own websites," says Stamper. "It came back in the mid-1990s, when it was still being used disparagingly. There was a slow shift and by the 2000s, it began to register a neutral sense." The word "geek" is older, starting out in the early 1900s to refer to a carnival performer (see box) whose only skill was the ability to bite the heads off chickens. It's easy to argue that "nerd" and "geek", with their very different roots, retain different meanings, arguably with the former still more derogatory than the latter. And some see a transatlantic divide, with "geek" used in US and UK, but "nerd" somehow feeling less British. Stamper argues "nerd" now denotes a depth of knowledge in a particular area, while "geek" appears to have taken on the more technical overtones that "nerd" once had. "We have evidence of people particularly taking the word 'geek' and using it proudly to reclaim the best elements," says Stamper. This process of reappropriation is common. Take, for example, the way many gay people have altered the meaning of the word "queer". The classic current use of "geek" as a self-description is typically accompanied by something else - "stats geek", "physics geek", "history geek" and even "cocktail geek" all being standard usages. Some lexicographers have been slow to reflect the new status of "nerd" and "geek". In Sweden, an online petition to change the dictionary definition of "nerd" - a "simple-minded and laughable person" - has gathered almost 4,000 signatures. According to reports, the Swedish Academy says it might change the definition to something more neutral in the future. English writer Neil Gaiman - author of the Sandman comic book series, Stardust and Coraline novels - says he is fascinated by how "incredibly quickly" both words took off in the UK after the 1980s. "I remember interviewing William Gibson - who posited a world in which people sitting in front of their computers were cool - for Time Out in the mid-to-late 1980s," says Gaiman. "Gibson described himself as the geek who couldn't play baseball. Someone at Time Out changed this to 'Greek' because they said they hadn't come across the word. "Nerd became popular with the Revenge of the Nerds. But it was terribly prescient given what followed in the next 30 years - the people who were good at football didn't have the jobs, while the ones who weren't good at football and might have had trouble picking up girls in their teens were more than making money, they were changing the world." Surely the apotheosis for those dubbed "geek" came with world wide web inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee being cheered at the London 2012 opening ceremony. And the appropriation of the word "nerd" was a "battle that got won", says Gaiman. "It's like many terms that were originally intended to offend, the team that was offended took it as its own as a badge of honour. "It's part of a cycle, that terms of abuse are turned around - in this case it has been socially turned around." So as more and more people become enthusiasts, traditional "nerd" and "geek" interests - Star Trek, comic books, anime, video games - are moving into the mainstream. The record for biggest US movie opening weekend is held by a movie based on comics. But has anything been lost by this shift? Some of those who self-identify as nerds and geeks look back nostalgically on the time their status felt rebellious, says Benjamin Nugent, author of American Nerd: The Story of My People. "This didn't come until the late 1980s and 1990s with Hollywood depictions of hackers taking on nefarious government corporations. They were turning into outlaws - pallid versions of Jesse James." The addition of women into what was traditionally a male-orientated and male-dominated sub-culture has been a significant development, says Nugent. But the hardcore take to forums like Reddit to deride those who think they are nerds and geeks but are perceived as lacking the right credentials. One writes: "In my mind, a nerd is someone who is passionate about (and very good at) something - be it math, Irish literature, D&D, botany, whatever. Somewhere along the line, this changed to being part of a certain culture, watching this TV show and wearing that type of clothing. And that's such a different concept. Many think it devalues the word." With the words "geek" and "nerd" primarily self-descriptions now, says blogger and game designer JR Blackwell, there are many different interpretations. And as Gaiman says: "Nowadays, people own their nerd-dom."

स्वीडन में अभियानकर्ता एक शब्दकोश को "बेवकूफ" की परिभाषा को बदलने के लिए मजबूर करने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं। लेकिन दो दशकों के "पुनर्विनियोजन" के बाद "बेवकूफ"-और इसकी बहन शब्द "गीक"-अब पूरी तरह से अपने अपमानजनक अर्थ खो चुका है?


Which is the North's best building?

Summary: The North of England has great football, but culture? Forget any stereotypes you have and think again. The 21st Century has brought the North some cultural buildings that help redefine world architecture, writes Martin Goodman, professor of creative writing at the University of Hull.

Antony Gormley's vast Angel of the North, erected on a hill above an old mineshaft near Gateshead in 1998, gave notice that change was coming. George Gill, a former miner and leader of Gateshead City Council, knocked on all the neighbourhood doors. Did people want this giant sculpture as a neighbour? Most of the funding would come from the National Lottery. "Bring it on," the people said. With its arms stretched wide like shipyard cranes, Gormley's iron angel stares at the horizon as motorways and trains speed people past. Now people stop. From the train at Newcastle they descend to the Tyne, where the elegant Gateshead Millennium Bridge leads them over the river. To their left is the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, an "arts factory" built into the high brick rise of a converted granary. To their right, above a flight of steps, the bulbous waves of three linked glass domes trace the shape of the Tyne Bridge's arch against the sky. This is the Sir Norman Foster designed Sage Gateshead, a trio of linked concert halls. The Northern Sinfonia is resident in this world-class venue, while jazz students, folk singers, disabled people, retirees and all manner of folk come to the honeycomb of studios in the lower level and make music of their own. Others come to this atrium of curved glass for coffee and an indoor stroll. They are protected from the weather as they look out above the river. One striking aspect of the North's new iconic buildings is the way they have opened up the cities' rivers. These riversides were once closed off as shipyards. New cultural buildings tempt the people back. All these new buildings major on vistas. The plate-glass frontage of the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (Mima) is crossed by the startling gash of its internal staircase. Those stairs lead to an outdoor space with views of the North York Moors. Inside, galleries of blond wood meld the permanent art collection with visiting exhibits. Hull chose fish rather than art, but like Gateshead it has used iconic architecture to open up its rivers. The architect Sir Terry Farrell sited The Deep at the confluence of the Humber and the river Hull, a tributary which gives the city its name. It juts above the waters like a geological shard, a statement of intense visual intent that already stands as an icon for the city. The landscape around here is flat. Climb up into the nose cone of the building and you find that the building has given Hull's citizens a new view. In one direction is the Humber Bridge; in another the Humber sweeps in from the sea; and a new bridge connects this building to the Old Town, dominated by the 14th Century tower of Holy Trinity Church. The intention is to attract visitors across that new bridge to the city's existing gallery and museum quarter. The Deep brings in a steady 300,000 visitors a year to its aquarium. It is about to add penguins to keep the people coming. Wakefield brought in an astonishing first-year total of 500,000 visitors to its Hepworth Gallery with high art alone. The river Calder powers against the Hepworth's foundations, which rise into a sequence of polished concrete cubes. In the gallery spaces designed by Sir David Chipperfield, a play of natural light colours the sculptures of Wakefield-born Barbara Hepworth. Abandoned red brick warehouses still line up alongside the Hepworth. New buildings can spark regeneration but it takes time. The turn of the millennium was a golden period for funding. Lottery money was later diverted to the London Olympics but Liverpool somehow managed to pull together the public finance to open the Museum of Liverpool in 2011. Previous developments, including a branch of the Tate, were built into the old structures of the Albert Dock. But the bold white sweep of the Museum of Liverpool is a radical statement of the new. It drew more than a million visitors in its first year, all keen to tour its levels and discover how Liverpool is telling its own story. In London visitors queue to pay £25 for a view from the top of the Shard. For a human at the pinnacle of that iconic yet commercial building, the city sinks into anonymity. From the Museum of Liverpool the views across the Mersey are free. People who buy lottery tickets have dreams of great riches. A percentage of those lottery purchases have funded these new buildings of the North, so those dreams have come curiously true. This is rich iconic architecture but these buildings go way beyond bold gestures. They are thronged, and are coming to be loved. You can follow Martin Goodman on Twitter @MartinGoodman2 You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook

हल विश्वविद्यालय में रचनात्मक लेखन के प्रोफेसर मार्टिन गुडमैन लिखते हैं, "इंग्लैंड के उत्तर में शानदार फुटबॉल है, लेकिन संस्कृति है? आपके पास जो भी रूढ़िवादी धारणाएँ हैं उन्हें भूल जाएँ और फिर से सोचें। 21वीं सदी ने उत्तर में कुछ सांस्कृतिक इमारतें ला दी हैं जो विश्व वास्तुकला को फिर से परिभाषित करने में मदद करती हैं।"


Experts to speak at Vale of Leven C.diff inquiry

Summary: Nursing experts are to give evidence to a public inquiry into Scotland's worst Clostridium difficile (C.diff) outbreak.

Between 2007 and 2008, 55 patients at Dunbartonshire's Vale of Leven Hospital developed the bug and 18 died. The inquiry, being chaired by Lord MacLean, is taking place at Maryhill Community Central Halls. After hearing from the experts, nursing staff at the hospital will be the next witnesses. Lord MacLean will take evidence until late-July when the inquiry will break for the summer. A final report and recommendations are expected to be published by September 2012.

नर्सिंग विशेषज्ञ स्कॉटलैंड के सबसे खराब क्लॉस्ट्रिडियम डिफिसाइल (C.diff) प्रकोप की सार्वजनिक जांच के लिए सबूत देने वाले हैं।


New hope for rape kit testing advocates

Summary: Five years after more than 11,000 unprocessed rape kits - some dating back to the 1980s - were discovered in a police warehouse in Detroit, cities across the US are working to eliminate their own huge backlogs of untested evidence. Thousands of sexual assault cases are beginning to be resolved.

By Taylor Kate BrownBBC News, Washington When Detroit prosecutors and state police toured a large storage warehouse in 2009, they made a startling discovery - more a huge cache of untested rape kits, each representing a report to the police and a lengthy hospital visit to collect evidence. Armed with a large grant by the National Institute of Justice, prosecutors and Detroit police have now completed testing of 2,000 of those kits and are in the process of testing another 8,000. The testing, as of October, had produced more than 750 DNA matches to a national database managed by the FBI known as Codis. Investigations of these matches continue, but so far the Wayne County prosecutor's office - which includes Detroit - has produced warrants for 23 alleged rapists and convicted 14 of them, with three awaiting trial. The office, run by the county's top prosecutor, Kym Worthy, has also identified 188 serial rapists from the processed kits who have committed crimes in 27 other states. Detroit is not alone, however. Amid a reinvigorated call to test the estimated hundreds of thousands of rape kits in police storage across America, other US cities are also seeing dramatic results - a high number of previously unidentified serial rapists and dozens of unsolved cases going to prosecution. In Cleveland, which has submitted all of its 4,300 kits for testing, police have opened more than 1,800 investigations, with more than 1,000 still in progress. The local prosecutor's officer has indicted 231 people, a third of whom had at least one previous rape conviction. More than 50 people have been arrested so far from ongoing investigations after officials in Houston completed testing 6,600 kits. Memphis, which is only part way through its more than 12,000 backlogged kits, has opened 243 investigations, indicting 36 people. And a new effort in Colorado saw 24 Codis matches from the first 150 kits tested, according to local media. Such results suggest other cities and states may have thousands of new cases sitting on their shelves. No 'rational reason' A push for testing backlogged rape kits began with New York City, which cleared 17,000 kits between 1999 and 2003. But successful rape kit processing in New York, and later Los Angeles, did not spark a nationwide movement, despite improved DNA tests and millions of offender profiles to search against in Codis. "You have capacity and ability, and yet jurisdictions were not sending their rape kits in for testing," says Sarah Tofte of the Joyful Heart Foundation, which advocates for rape kit backlog testing. Tofte says many police departments don't see the value in testing old kits when resources are often tight. She says backlog results are "very sobering" for cities that considered these cases not worth testing. "It's really shown many jurisdictions how many initial assessments they made were not the correct ones. "It always surprises me a little bit when they're always so sure exactly what is in that rape kit backlog," she says. Many police departments across the country do not test kits in non-stranger rape cases where the victim and suspect were known to each other and consent - not identifying the suspect - is the main issue. Rape kits were also not sent for testing when victims who made the report decided not to pursue prosecution or could not be found again. But some of these cases show very little investigation on the part of police. "It wasn't like there was a rational reason to not pursue," says Dr Rebecca Campbell, a researcher at Michigan State University who studied the results and case files from 1,600 Detroit kits. Looking back at those police files, Campbell says, there was a "widespread" attitude of not believing the victim, and only doing minimum investigation on the cases, many just including the initial police report. Tofte says police and prosecutors across the US have "struggled to adopt a really comprehensive approach to rape investigations", including failing to do a thorough investigation on the suspect instead of simply scrutinising the victim's report. In one case from the Detroit backlog, a 12-year-old boy had told police in 2005 he had been sexually assaulted by a man who offered him money to clean out his basement. The boy gave a detailed description of the man who attacked him and pointed out the man's house to police as he went to the hospital. But the case never went forward, closed as "victim refused to prosecute" after a few attempts at contacting the boy and his family on the phone failed. The kit was not sent for testing until seven years later. The DNA matched Billy Bingham, a convicted sex offender living at the address the boy had pointed out. The boy, now a young man, testified at the trial, and Bingham was sentenced to at least 40 years in prison. Delayed investigation Even if attitudes about the value of rape kits change, however, the money may not be there. Sgt Amy Millis, who runs Dallas's sex assault crimes unit, says her city had a desire to test their backlog but had been stalled until now because of funding. "This is an extremely expensive endeavour," Millis says, citing not only the costs of testing the kits but "additional investigators, additional court personnel, prosecutors … advocates and counsellors to help people who are reopening old wounds". As Millis suggests, a successful match is only the beginning. "The case still needs to be fully investigated like it should have been fully investigated when this first happened," Wayne County prosecutor Worthy says. "You put a case together the old-fashioned way." Part of that process is contacting the victim - in person - and telling them there is new information in their case. Investigators need to speak to the victim to make sure any DNA sample found is not from a consensual partner. Then they ask if they want to move forward with a prosecution. Sometimes, prosecutors make "John Doe" indictments when they find DNA matches across multiple cases but the identity of the person is not known, allowing them to pursue the cases if they enter Codis separately. Cleveland has made dozens of these indictments based off their own backlog. Twenty-two of Memphis' 36 indictments are John Does. "For me the worst case scenario is we run the profile of a number of these kits and we find out we got a serial rapist … but he hasn't been caught ever," says Tammy Kemp, a Dallas prosecutor who will be in charge of any Dallas backlog cases. "So we'll have a number of women who may have been raped by the same person, but we still don't know what his identity is." In the wake of these results, laws about how sexual assault kits are treated are changing. As of next year, Michigan will join California, Texas and Illinois as states that require testing of every single sexual assault kit, no matter the circumstances. Results from Cleveland's backlog As of mid-November, 2,985 tests out of a total of 4,400 have been completed Investigations closed Indictments Funding for rape kit backlog testing has been stuck in Congress for over a year, but last month New York City prosecutor Cyrus Vance Jr announced a new $35m (£22m) fund - taken from a forfeiture payment in a financial case - for counting and testing kits. "I think it's going to be interesting to see what comes out of the woodwork - when they are offered a very concrete opportunity for help," Tofte says. But new funds for rape kit testing or mandating new kits to be tested will not improve failures of investigation, she adds, saying the backlog represents cases where police do not "really comprehensively investigate the sexual assault cases that are reported to them". "You're not going to be able to resolve that by just requiring them to test everything." Worthy believes cities that are just starting to come to grips with the size of their backlog and whether to test all kits should not shy away from the challenge. "Put your issue out there and own it." she says. "[Don't] make excuses saying it didn't happen on my watch or these are old … because those can still yield very valuable evidence… Own it, and bring justice to these victims." Texas and the statute of limitations Because of the limited funds, many cities have prioritised cases at risk of passing out of the statute of limitations, but Dallas is starting with the most recent "old" cases - from 2011 - in part because Texas laws will not prevent them from "losing" any cases after 1996. The belief is that victims will simply be easier to find and cases easier to investigate the more recent the crime. But Dallas is not yet testing rape kits outside the statute of limitations for cases with DNA evidence. Whether to test rape kits too old to be brought to trial is a challenging decision. Tofte and Worthy are among those who believe it is worth it. Positive DNA matches on such cases may help in prosecution of other cases, especially if the suspect in a current sexual assault case can now be linked to a previous crime, even if they will never be charged separately. Positive matches can also be used as factors in parole board hearings if the suspect is already in prison. But given the use of additional resources, there is also the risk that police find out who a suspect might be but cannot do anything about it. Or regardless of a statute of limitations, a DNA profile is not associated with a specific person.

डेट्रॉइट में एक पुलिस गोदाम में 11,000 से अधिक असंसाधित बलात्कार किट-जिनमें से कुछ 1980 के दशक की हैं-मिलने के पांच साल बाद, अमेरिका भर के शहर अप्रमाणित साक्ष्यों के अपने विशाल बैकलॉग को खत्म करने के लिए काम कर रहे हैं। हजारों यौन उत्पीड़न के मामलों का समाधान होना शुरू हो गया है।


TT 2014: Pair fined for entering closed road

Summary: Two people have been fined for entering a closed road in Ballaugh during Monday's Isle of Man TT races.

Damien Miller, 21, and Jade Bate, 20, from Bridgwater were both ordered to pay £250 plus costs after appearing in Douglas courthouse on Tuesday. Mr Miller was also ordered to pay £250 over a charge of provoking behaviour. Police said it was "not linked" to an earlier accident in which a competitor from Stroud lost his life during the Supersport TT race.

सोमवार की आइल ऑफ मैन टी. टी. दौड़ के दौरान बैलाघ में एक बंद सड़क में प्रवेश करने के लिए दो लोगों पर जुर्माना लगाया गया है।


Aretha Franklin earns posthumous Pulitzer prize

Summary: The Queen of Soul is now a Pulitzer Prize winner.

By Mark SavageBBC Music reporter Aretha Franklin has been awarded a special citation honouring "her indelible contribution to American music and culture for more than five decades". She becomes the 12th musician, and first female performer, to be given the citation - joining the likes of Bob Dylan, Scott Joplin and John Coltrane. Franklin died of pancreatic cancer last August, aged 76. During her career, the singer won 18 Grammys, had 17 top 10 US chart hits and became the first woman admitted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. An artist of immense versatility, her powerful voice, trained in the gospel tradition, moved on to embrace jazz, soul and rhythm and blues. Rolling Stone magazine rated her as the greatest singer of all time, thanks to songs like Respect, Chain Of Fools and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman. This year's Pulitzer Prize for music went to Ellen Reid's opera p r i s m [sic]. The Pulitzer jury described the piece as a "bold new operatic work that uses sophisticated vocal writing and striking instrumental timbres to confront difficult subject matter: The effects of sexual and emotional abuse". "It feels unreal - like I'm going to wake up!" said the Tennessee-born composer. She described her winning opera as challenging and personal, but said it was designed not to alienate the audience. "There's something about the piece that makes people who haven't experienced sexual assault understand just a little bit more what it might be like," she told US radio station NPR. The Pulitzers also honour the best in literature, theatre, and journalism. Jackie Sibblies Drury won the drama prize for Fairview, a play which seems to be a black family comedy in the style of The Cosby Show or A Different World, but takes some unexpected turns, both for the characters onstage and the audience themselves. The Pulitzer jury called it "a hard-hitting drama that examines race in a highly conceptual, layered structure, ultimately bringing audiences into the actors' community to face deep-seated prejudices". Novelist Richard Powers won the fiction prize for The Overstory, a multi-narrative look at nine Americans who are brought together unfolding natural catastrophe; while David W Blight picked up the history prize for his acclaimed biography of Frederick Douglas, the escaped slave who became a leader of the abolitionist movement. The New York Times and Washington Post won journalism awards for their coverage of President Trump, while there was a special citation for the staff of the Capital Gazette, a paper in Maryland that suffered a deadly attack in its newsroom. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

क्वीन ऑफ सोल अब पुलित्जर पुरस्कार विजेता हैं।


Who, What, Why: Who are the Yazidis?

Summary: Among the many victims of the advance of The Islamic State (IS) in the Middle East are a group of up to 50,000 Yazidis, who are trapped in the mountains in northwest Iraq without food or water. Author Diana Darke explains who these mysterious religious adherents are.

Who, What, WhyThe Magazine answers the questions behind the news Suddenly thrust into the limelight by their plight, the Yazidis will not welcome the glare of international attention. On account of their unusual beliefs, they are often unjustly referred to as "devil worshippers", and have traditionally held themselves apart in small communities mainly scattered across northwest Iraq, northwest Syria and southeast Turkey. Estimating their current numbers is difficult, with figures ranging from 70,000 to 500,000. Feared, vilified and persecuted, there is no doubt the population has dwindled considerably over the course of the past century. Like other minority religions of the region, such as the Druze and the Alawis, it is not possible to convert to Yazidism, only to be born into it. The ongoing persecution in their heartland of the Mt Sinjar region west of Mosul is based on a misunderstanding of their name. Sunni extremists, such as IS, believe it derives from Yazid ibn Muawiya (647-683), the deeply unpopular second caliph of the Umayyad dynasty. Modern research, however, has clarified that the name is nothing to do with the loose-living Yazid, or the Persian city of Yazd, but is taken from the modern Persian "ized", which means angel or deity. The name Izidis simply means "worshippers of god", which is how Yazidis describe themselves. Their own name for themselves is Daasin (plural Dawaaseen), which is taken from the name of an old Nestorian - the Ancient Church of the East - diocese, for many of their beliefs are derived from Christianity. They revere both the Bible and the Koran, but much of their own tradition is oral. Due in part to its secrecy, there have been misunderstandings that the complex Yazidi faith is linked to Zoroastrianism with a light/dark duality and even sun worship. Recent scholarship, however, has shown that although their shrines are often decorated with the sun and that graves point east towards the sunrise, they share many elements with Christianity and Islam. Children are baptised with consecrated water by a pir (priest). At weddings he breaks bread and gives one half to the bride and the other to the groom. The bride, dressed in red, visits Christian churches. In December, Yazidis fast for three days, before drinking wine with the pir. On 15-20 September there is an annual pilgrimage to the tomb of Sheikh Adi at Lalesh north of Mosul, where they carry out ritual ablutions in the river. They also practise sacrifice of animals and circumcision. Their supreme being is known as Yasdan. He is considered to be on such an elevated level that he cannot be worshipped directly. He is considered a passive force, the Creator of the world, not the preserver. Seven great spirits emanate from him of which the greatest is the Peacock Angel known as Malak Taus - active executor of the divine will. The peacock in early Christianity was a symbol of immortality, because its flesh does not appear to decay. Malak Taus is considered God's alter ego, inseparable from Him, and to that extent Yazidism is monotheistic. Yazidis pray to Malak Taus five times a day. His other name is Shaytan, which is Arabic for devil, and this has led to the Yazidis being mislabelled as "devil-worshippers". The Yazidis believe that souls pass into successive bodily forms (transmigration) and that gradual purification is possible through continual rebirth, making Hell redundant. The worst possible fate for a Yazidi is to be expelled from his community, as this means their soul can never progress. Conversion to another religion is, therefore, out of the question. In remote areas of southeast Turkey towards the Syrian and Iraqi borders, their once-abandoned villages are starting to come back to life, with new houses being built by the communities themselves. Many Yazidis are returning from exile now that the Turkish government leaves them undisturbed. Despite centuries of persecution the Yazidis have never abandoned their faith, testimony to their remarkable sense of identity and strength of character. If they are driven from Iraq and Syria by IS extremists, the likelihood is that more will settle in southeast Turkey where they are left to live out their beliefs in peace. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

मध्य पूर्व में इस्लामिक स्टेट (आईएस) की प्रगति के कई पीड़ितों में 50,000 तक यज़ीदियों का एक समूह है, जो उत्तर-पश्चिम इराक के पहाड़ों में बिना भोजन या पानी के फंसे हुए हैं। लेखिका डायना डार्के बताती हैं कि ये रहस्यमय धार्मिक अनुयायी कौन हैं।


Maguiresbridge stabbing: Woman charged with GBH

Summary: A 22-year-old woman has been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of an offensive weapon after a woman was stabbed.

The alleged victim, who is in her 20s, is in hospital following the incident in Maguiresbridge, County Fermanagh. Police said the incident in a house in Railway Park was reported to them at about 05:40 GMT on Sunday. The 22-year-old is due to appear at Enniskillen Magistrates' Court on Monday.

एक महिला पर चाकू से हमला किए जाने के बाद एक 22 वर्षीय महिला पर इरादे से गंभीर शारीरिक नुकसान पहुंचाने और आक्रामक हथियार रखने का आरोप लगाया गया है।


Stevenage: The town that aimed for Utopia

Summary: Seventy years ago, Stevenage in Hertfordshire was designated the UK's first New Town. Devised as a radical solution to London's post-war housing crisis, the aim behind its creation was ambitious - but how close did that vision get to reality?

By Jodie HalfordBBC News Viewed on a grey November day, Stevenage town centre is perhaps not seen in its best light. The wind whips loose leaves round a large public square dominated by a Mondrian-inspired clock tower and fountain. Faded, tired concrete is visible as far as the eye can see. It is a bit bleak. Many of the buildings look in dire need of a bit of TLC and no-one seems keen on hanging around to people-watch or admire the view. Grey and somewhat uninspiring it may be, but Stevenage's political architect Lewis Silkin originally envisaged it as a "gay and bright" place. The minister for town and country planning in the post-war Labour government saw new towns as the solution to the UK's housing crisis. An East End boy by birth, Silkin had a passion and vision for new towns which would see the neighbourly "spirit of the slums" combine with easy access to the countryside, sports and leisure facilities in a self-contained community. The resulting 1946 New Towns Act aimed to free people from the smog and cramped living conditions of the big cities and move them into leafy, close-knit, towns in the shires. Building on the earlier Garden City movement, Silkin presented a Utopian vision. Stevenage, and other new towns, would be where rich mixed with poor and "a new type of citizen, a healthy, self-respecting, dignified person with a sense of beauty, culture and civic pride" would be created. However, the path to creating such a place was not smooth. Up until the 1940s, Stevenage had been a quiet farming town of 6,000 people. Those people were very much opposed to their town swelling to a population of 60,000. The government was insistent, though. When Silkin visited Stevenage, he was met with a railway station sign altered to read "Silkingrad", a reference to what many felt were similarities between Silkin's approach and that of a totalitarian regime. In the end, the residents lost their battle and the first "new town pioneers" moved into their new houses in the early 1950s. By all accounts, the early years of the town were a time of great excitement for the newcomers. Community groups were formed, businesses opened and bands such as The Rolling Stones and The Who played at the Locarno Ballroom. "There was a great atmosphere of optimism and positivity," recalls Sharon Taylor, whose parents had made the move from London. "There was a very strong community here because people had come away from their links with family life and friends where they'd lived before. "For them, this was a very big step." Ms Taylor is still living in Stevenage today. In fact, she has gone on to become leader of the borough council, and believes Silkin would recognise the town as having followed his ideals. "I think the vision was incredible," she says. "The green spaces are certainly here - people are always surprised when they come here by how green it is. "We've got about 300 community groups and we're rich in culture." In her office, a drawing of Lewis Hamilton adorns the wall. He is one of several well-known sporting and cultural figures to have been born in the town. Stevenage is proud of those connections and has filled a walkway between the shops and the leisure centre with pictures of the famous faces. Stevenage sons (and daughters) But the town is let down by its ageing concrete centre. Regeneration plans have been mooted, approved and shelved several times over. "People judge the town on the town centre," admits Jo Ward, curator of Stevenage Museum. "It was the country's first pedestrianised town centre, and it was revolutionary, but it has dated. "The problem is concrete doesn't age well - it gets rain streaked and dirty, and you let all us individuals loose and we start pebble-dashing it and sticking bits on and individualising the houses, and all that uniformity is gone. "It's more quirky and characterful but few people would be big on Stevenage being a place of great beauty." A 2002 Select Committee report found this was a common theme with new towns. It said most were showing signs of age and shoppers were voting with their feet. Ms Taylor said in Stevenage's case, the issues dated back as far as 1980, when the Stevenage Development Corporation - a body which had planned the town and collected all the rent for 30 years - was wound up. All the money went to the government instead of back into local hands, she says. "All of our town centre buildings were handed over to the private sector - we've not been able to do the regeneration in the way we would have wanted to," she said. "But we've been working hard to do a new £2 billion scheme and I feel more confident than I have done for a very long time that it will work." The town's housing stock is also ageing fast. "When you go out now, you can't move without seeing builders and scaffolding everywhere," said Grete Dalum-Tilds, project officer for Talking New Towns, a group researching the history of the UK's New Towns. "Some streets don't look good, but in some places there is more individuality. The refurbished ones look really nice." Since the New Town Act was passed, 21 other new towns have been officially designated across England. But Stevenage is the one that holds a special place in the heart of Lewis Silkin's grandson Rory, who believes his grandfather was "a visionary". "The town has nothing to do with me, but I've always felt a particular connection to Stevenage," he said. "I think my grandfather would like what he saw. He was very aware, having grown up in the East End, that people were stacked on top of people. "He was really passionate that new towns should have access to the countryside, so he'd recognise all that. "I always get the impression people are proud of living here - there's a great feeling of place and that's a bit of a testament to him."

सत्तर साल पहले, हर्टफोर्डशायर में स्टीवेनेज को ब्रिटेन का पहला नया शहर नामित किया गया था। लंदन के युद्ध के बाद के आवास संकट के लिए एक कट्टरपंथी समाधान के रूप में तैयार किया गया, इसके निर्माण के पीछे का उद्देश्य महत्वाकांक्षी था-लेकिन यह दृष्टि वास्तविकता के कितने करीब थी?


Live gigs are back - but social distancing poses problems

Summary: "It's wonderful to be here this evening," says Elton John - or rather Ultimate Elton, a tribute act with an uncanny voice and an even more uncanny wig. "It's wonderful to be anywhere, really."

By Ian YoungsEntertainment & arts reporter After four months with no concerts - at least none with a live audience - Ultimate Elton (AKA Paul Bacon) headlined one of the first gigs to return, a hastily-arranged, scaled-back, socially-distanced (mostly) Hale Barns Carnival. Ultimate Elton shared Saturday's bill with George Michael (actually Andrew Browning). A pub beer garden on the outskirts of Manchester may not be Wembley Stadium, and Paul and Andrew may not actually be Elton and George, but they are the best we've got for now. As most of the 200 people in the Bulls Head garden got on their feet as Ultimate Elton launched into I'm Still Standing ("A good end of lockdown song"), it showed what we have all been missing - people together, in the same place, at the same time, having a blast. The question is, can they do it safely? Most families or groups had their own tables, which were a good four metres apart, and others sat on camping chairs in squares marked on the grass. There was plenty of space, plus signs telling us to "Keep calm and maintain social distancing", as well as reminders from the host. To avoid queues, there was an app to order food and drinks from the pub to be delivered to your square. Anyone craving the sweaty rush of a moshpit will have to wait a while, but those who prefer not to be jostled might quite like this new normal. Most people kept their distance. But as the night went on and the excitement (and alcohol) levels rose - who wouldn't be excited to see George Michael perform Wake Me Up Before You Go Go? - the social distancing boundaries did become blurred. Before the event, organiser Max Eden said he wanted to show there was "some light at the end of the tunnel" for live concerts. "We want to really show that this is safe, and that outdoor concerts can be done and can be done well," he said. "A lot of people will be worried about coming back, and the longer we delay starting up events, the more it's going to feel scary coming back. I think it's important that the first experience is a good one." On 9 July, the government announced that open-air gigs, festivals and theatre shows would be able to resume in England two days later. That was too short notice for most venues and promoters, but this weekend has seen a smattering of small outdoor shows. Those rules recommended online ticketing, and for singing and wind and brass playing to be "carefully controlled". That didn't always appear to be the case. One gig promoter in Newcastle has come up with a way to try to ensure social distancing is maintained. They will put groups of fans on their own cordoned-off podiums. Acts like Supergrass, The Libertines and Maximo Park will play at the 2,500-capacity Virgin Money Unity Arena from mid-August. The venue, a converted polo field, will have 500 platforms, each surrounded by rails. Only one person from each group will be able to go to the toilet or the bar at any one time, to avoid too many people moving around the site at once. Steve Davis of promoters SSD says he has been "inundated" with requests from artists who want to play, and will announce another 15 shows on Tuesday. "It's mad, the take-up and the scale of the artists who want to play", he says. "A lot of people want to raise money for their crews, a lot of people are just going stir crazy and want to get on a stage, and a lot of people just want to get back and show willing to their fans." Davis started planning the shows the week after lockdown, after postponing 700 gigs and festivals from 2020 to 2021. "We realised that something has to come before the [indoor] venues open again, and after the restrictions are eased," he said. "So although it's a hybrid and no-one's done it before, we think this is quite a good middle ground." Drive-ins had been touted as another stopgap, but drive-in tours featuring stars like Kaiser Chiefs, Dizzee Rascal and Sigala were cancelled last week over fears about what might happen if the host towns and cities were put into local lockdown. On Friday, the government gave indoor concerts and plays the green light to resume in England from 1 August - if they are socially-distanced. Hours earlier, a test event saw 30 classical music lovers, seated on chairs safely scattered around the floor of the London Symphony Orchestra's St Luke's Church, become the first audience to watch an indoor concert since lockdown. The performers were a violin duo who had played the same works in an empty hall a week earlier. "When you put the people there, you feel the connection," musician Julian Gil Rodriguez said. "It's a different energy. It's a real thing." Outdoor shows might have two months of summer left if they are lucky, and any excitement about their resumption is tempered by the plight of regular venues after a string of closures and redundancy announcements. Many fans will be more reluctant to return indoors than they would to see music outside, and most venues won't be able to afford to put on gigs if social distancing means they can only sell a fraction of the tickets, even if they do have permission. The live music industry has been working on its own solutions. Last month, Reading and Leeds festivals promoter Melvin Benn proposed a Full Capacity Plan, under which every gig-goer would have a coronavirus test beforehand, and wouldn't be allowed in unless they show an app confirming a negative result. Lots of acts have done virtual concerts in recent months, and the industry is also thinking about whether pay-per-view streamed gigs could make up a shortfall from live ticket sales. Laura Marling, Nick Cave and Lianne La Havas are among those who have streamed, or are planning to stream, professionally-filmed paid-for concerts from atmospheric empty venues. Gigs that combine the two - with some socially-distanced fans watching in person and others watching online - is "definitely one of the options", according to Brian Message of ATC Management. But he is banking on near-full audiences being allowed by next March, when Cave and another of his acts, Thom Yorke, are due to go on tour. "Many of us are trying to make sure that there is some level of normality at least by then," he says. Back in the beer garden, there was only one possible way to close Saturday's show. George/Andrew and Elton/Paul united for a duet of Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me, which the real stars famously performed together. "Don't get too close," Elton joked to George on the pub terrace, which was their stage. He could have aimed that advice at the fans below them too. Some moved forward for the final song to soak up the moment together. It still didn't quite feel crowded, but it no longer felt distanced. This was as near as most of the audience will have come in recent months to feeling part of a shared special experience - which is what live music is all about. Sadly, shared experiences are also the highest risk. Follow us on Facebook, or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

"आज शाम यहाँ आना अद्भुत है", एल्टन जॉन कहते हैं-या बल्कि अल्टीमेट एल्टन, एक अजीब आवाज़ और उससे भी अधिक अजीब विग के साथ एक श्रद्धांजलि कार्य। "वास्तव में कहीं भी होना अद्भुत है।"


Air India starts selling seats in female-only section

Summary: Air India has begun selling female-only seat sections.

By Rick KelseyNewsbeat reporter The restriction will apply to the front row of six seats on economy flights and comes after reports some women were being groped by other passengers. A general manager from Air India told The Hindu they wanted to reassure passengers who were travelling alone. Meenakshi Malik said: "We feel, as national carriers, it is our responsibility to enhance comfort level to female passengers." The airline will also now carry two pairs of restrainers to deal with disruptive passengers who can not be controlled. From later this week, the six seats will be made available on the Airbus A320 aircraft on flights within India. The women-only seats may be extended to other flights in the next few months. Single passengers will be able to request the seats when they check in, without any extra cost. Not everybody connected to the airline is happy with the move though. Former Air India Executive Jitendra Bhargava told The Hindu: "To my knowledge, this happens nowhere in the world. Planes are not unsafe for women passengers. "In cases of unruly behaviour, the airline crew are authorised to take action as per the law." The airline is no stranger to controversy. In 2015, bosses told some staff they were too fat to be air attendants and were costing the company a fortune in fuel. Find us on Instagram at BBCNewsbeat and follow us on Snapchat, search for bbc_newsbeat

एयर इंडिया ने केवल महिलाओं के लिए सीट सेक्शन की बिक्री शुरू कर दी है।


Apple sells 9 million of its new iPhone models

Summary: Apple has sold nine million of its new iPhone models in three days.

The company said that sales of the iPhone 5S and 5C had beaten previous launches of new phones. Apple said demand for the 5S had outstripped supply and Apple shares rose almost 6% on the news before falling back to trade 4% higher. The 5S has a fingerprint sensor built into the phone's main button. The cheaper 5C comes with a plastic back in a choice of colours. In a statement Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive said: "The demand for the new iPhones has been incredible, and while we've sold out of our initial supply of iPhone 5S, stores continue to receive new iPhone shipments regularly. "We appreciate everyone's patience and are working hard to build enough new iPhones for everyone." 'Get into line' Analysts said that while the sales were strong, Apple had made an effort to ensure that the opening weekend was a success. "Apple was concerned about the public relations angle of a soft first weekend, so they took some steps to strengthen the numbers," telecom analyst Jeff Kagan said in an email. "Traditionally users could pre-order devices. Not this year. "This year anyone who wanted a new iPhone must get into line. That bolstered the lines and strengthened [the] opening weekend from a PR perspective. This upset users, but made for great numbers," he said. In a notification to market regulators Apple said it expected sales in its fourth quarter to be at the higher end of its previous announced range of between $34bn and $37bn. It also forecast that its gross profit margin would be near the high end of the previously provided range of 36-37%. "Despite the pessimism from many commentators over the last few days this is a ringing endorsement of the ongoing appeal of the iPhone to consumers on the street," said Ben Wood from the tech consultancy CCS Insight. However, there is definitely no room for complacency and Apple most definitely can't stand still when it comes to future product releases."

एप्पल ने तीन दिनों में अपने नौ लाख नए आईफोन मॉडल बेचे हैं।


Dead within three hours of arrival at a Russian prison

Summary: Earlier this year, two guards who worked at a prison in Yaroslavl, north-east of Moscow, were jailed for abusing an inmate. Despite official claims that Russian penitentiaries are cleaning up their act, prisoners, their relatives and human rights activists tell a very different story. The BBC's Oleg Boldyrev investigated one recent case.

I haven't seen the room where Roman Sarychev was beaten. Beaten so badly that he died three hours later. No, this is not lazy reporting. The room is inaccessible - behind barbed wire and high walls. But that prison, penal colony number six in the Bryansk region, south-west of Moscow, is known to many people. Some former inmates and even a current one told me exactly what this room looks like and what happens there. It's windowless, with a low ceiling and walls of glossy yellowish paint. New inmates enter this narrow room through an even narrower corridor leading from the prison entrance. They have to move fast, almost running, bodies bent, handcuffed arms behind their backs. As they move, they are punched, kicked and sworn at by guards while a heavy metal track - Du Hast, by German band Rammstein - plays at ear-splitting volume. This ritual is called intake. It is designed to frighten and humiliate the new arrivals. Exactly why 32-year-old Sarychev was kicked so hard that his spleen ruptured, is still unknown - an investigation is now under way. But the beating itself is no surprise for those who are familiar with colony number six, or with many other Russian prisons. The prison service officially reported 2,700 deaths in custody last year. The assumption is that many were from natural causes, but accusations of beatings and torture are commonplace. A notorious video emerged in 2018 of guards beating an inmate in a prison in Yaroslavl while he was pinned face down to a table. A year later, several inmates in a prison in Karelia, near the Finnish border, told of beatings and abuse which resulted in at least one death. The prison's former director was jailed last year for torturing inmates. In 2015, five young prisoners were made to urinate on each other then beaten in a prison in Krasnodar, in the south of Russia. One of them died. These and many other stories often only become public months or years later, once the witnesses have been released. If there's a really big scandal, some prison officers may end up in court. Authorities say lessons have been learned, but similar incidents keep happening. The incident from Yaroslavl was unusual because there was footage from cameras that are supposed to be worn by guards on duty. Most of the time, though, something happens with the cameras - they just stop working, as indeed was the case with the attack on Roman Sarychev in penal colony number six. Sarychev had been found guilty of organising a string of illegal internet casinos in Bryansk. He'd hoped to get off with a heavy fine but was sentenced to two-and-a-half years instead. He appealed, hoping that his severe liver condition might mean a non-custodial sentence, but no such luck. Sarychev was transferred to the penal colony at 19:40 on 8 December last year. An ambulance was called an hour later. He then died on the operating table at 22:40. The following morning Sarychev's mother, Elena, called the prison service, expecting to get the results of his blood tests. Instead a clerk informed her that her son was dead. Elena screamed. Sarychev's sister made another call. She was told there had been "an incident". Soon after Sarychev died, one guard, Maj Sergei Shevtsov, was arrested. He remains in custody while the investigation continues. Activists who monitor cases of prison violence say it's unlikely that this officer was acting alone. I talked to the mother of another inmate from the same prison who had arrived just a few hours before Sarychev. She told me that her son, too, was made to run through a line of wardens who punched and kicked him to the sound of that same heavy metal tune. Other former inmates know Maj Shevtsov well. One ex-prisoner told me: "He and another guard, nicknamed Smetana, just liked thrashing people. Not to discipline them or to extort money but just because they could." In July 2018 Smetana, whose nickname means "sour cream" and whose real name is Ivan Marshalko, strangled an inmate with a bed sheet. He is now serving 12 years in prison for this murder. In 2014 another guard, Andrei Yakubov, repeatedly slammed a big stack of books into the head of a prisoner. His victim died a week later from a brain haemorrhage. Yakubov is serving a 10-year jail term. Penal colony number six has a long history of violence - twice in recent years its prisoners have rioted, protesting against torture and extortion, which was carried out by select gangs of inmates on behalf of the prison administration. People who have done time there told me dozens of deaths were never investigated. Workers at the mortuary told Sarychev's family that he'd been thrown around "like a rubber toy". His relatives couldn't turn him over to see the other side of his body. But they saw strange round bruises on his legs. They published the pictures online, hoping to shock the public and put pressure on the investigation. The sad reality, though, is that penal colony number six is far from unique - it's just one prison among hundreds that may hide similar grim secrets. On the day of the funeral a letter arrived at the home Sarychev had shared with his partner, Maria, and their children. Roman had written it from a remand centre, before he was transferred to the penal colony. Their five-year-old son dictated a reply. "We also deeply-deeply love you, and we miss our handsome and clever papa," he said. "You were a good papa." You may also be interested in: Two years ago, many Russians were shocked when the parliament significantly reduced penalties for domestic violence. Since then, women have been fighting back - demanding new legislation to restrain abusers, demonstrating in support of three sisters who took the law into their own hands, and finding new ways of tackling outdated attitudes on gender. Russian domestic violence: Women fight back

इस साल की शुरुआत में, मास्को के उत्तर-पूर्व में यारोस्लाव में एक जेल में काम करने वाले दो गार्डों को एक कैदी के साथ दुर्व्यवहार करने के लिए जेल में डाल दिया गया था। आधिकारिक दावों के बावजूद कि रूसी जेल उनके कृत्य को साफ कर रहे हैं, कैदी, उनके रिश्तेदार और मानवाधिकार कार्यकर्ता एक बहुत ही अलग कहानी बताते हैं। बीबीसी के ओलेग बोल्डिरेव ने हाल के एक मामले की जांच की।


Can Somalia's cheap peacekeeping defeat al-Shabab?

Summary: The Islamist group al-Shabab, that controls large parts of central and southern Somalia, has recently suffered significant defeats at the hands of Amisom, the African Union force that has been fighting the al-Qaeda-allied militants. The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse is in Mogadishu and has been travelling with them.

"Every day they attack, but without success," a Burundian soldier says as he takes us to see his new front line, on the outskirts of Mogadishu. "Shabab, finished!" shouts a new Somali recruit, as he heaves himself into his "technical" - a modified pickup truck with an anti-aircraft gun welded to the back, bullet belts slung around his neck. African Union forces have been hitting al-Shabab hard. Together with their allies in the Somali national army (mostly former militiamen like the young fighter in the "technical"), Ugandan and Burundian soldiers took the key town of Afgoye at the end of April. It is about 30km (18.5 miles) from Mogadishu, and had been a crucial stronghold for the Islamist fighters, as well as a centre of their bomb-making activities. Almost simultaneously, Kenyan forces have been advancing on the al-Shabab stronghold of Kismayo in the south. And Ethiopian troops are squeezing the Islamists in the west, near the town of Baidoa. Col Kayanja Muhanga, the Ugandan officer in charge of the assault on Afgoye, says it has been a tough battle. He says he and his men have been aided by a steady trickle of defectors. "They have had a lot of losses," he says at his camp outside Afgoye. "And when the enemy is defeated, some of them report to you. They have been giving us very useful information." We meet a young man by the name of Abu Khalit. He is 24 years old and had deserted from al-Shabab only the previous week. He says he joined the Islamists four years ago. He would have risked certain death if he had been caught as a defector. "I realised al-Shabab were not bringing freedom to the people," he said. "I realised it wasn't about religion. These people just want to fight. The real enemy here is al-Qaeda." Al-Shabab's recent losses have had an effect on morale. "They have all fled this area. Their morale has died. Everyone is looking for somewhere to hide." Proxy war? Over the past 20 years, there have been numerous attempts to bring peace to Somalia by force. The United States failed, culminating in the now-infamous 1993 incident in the battle for Mogadishu dubbed "Black Hawk Down". Other UN-backed international missions also failed. But this time, Col Muhanga says, it is different. "This is Africans solving their own problems. Africans solving African problems. The Somalis identify more with us because we are neighbours, we are Africans. They identify more with us than the foreign forces that have been here before." Col Muhanga's assessment of the situation is accurate, up to a point. As their armoured convoys rumble through the streets of Mogadishu, reactions from local residents are by and large positive, with waves and cheers from the shops and stalls that have re-emerged in the capital since Amisom pushed out al-Shabab. But Amisom is almost exclusively financed not by African nations, but by the big Western powers, notably the US and the EU. Ugandan troops receive training from US forces inside Uganda. In Mogadishu itself, Amisom officers are "mentored" by a group of international private security contractors, mostly from Europe or the US, some of them veterans of decades of African conflicts. All of this leaves the Amisom mission vulnerable to being labelled a "proxy war". The AU mission is ultra-low-budget. For example, Amisom does not have a single helicopter, a fact that contributed to heavy losses among Burundian forces during last year's battle for Mogadishu. The operation costs a fraction of other UN-led peacekeeping missions, for example the UN mission in DR Congo, which is widely seen as ineffectual, not to mention the US-led missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Shabab nostalgia So is Amisom a model for future conflict resolution in Africa and elsewhere? It could be, says Augustine Mahiga, the UN Special Representative to Somalia. "[Amisom] has not only delivered, but believe me, it is also cost-effective. It has to be revisited. There has to be re-thinking at the UN." But despite the military advances, the battle for "hearts and minds" is not yet won. At Mogadishu seaport, we watch two dozen men unloading bundles and boxes from cargo ships and piling them onto their trucks. All the drivers said they thought life was better under al-Shabab - less corrupt and more secure, so long as you stayed out of politics. "In al-Shabab areas, we don't see guns everywhere," said Mahmood Abdullahi. "If the government disarmed the militias and got rid of the checkpoints that steal money from us, then we would support the government." Yet it is politics that could make or break Somalia's current momentum towards stability. There is a hugely complicated political process under way that is supposed to culminate by 20 August this year. First, a group of clan elders must select a Constituent Assembly. That body must in turn must adopt a new constitution, and nominate members to a new parliament, which will then elect a new president. The process is fraught with potential pitfalls, not least a number of former warlords who have financial and political interests in maintaining instability. But Somalia is now closer to establishing some sort of meaningful central government than it has been for more than two decades. The African Union knows it needs more than just military victories. The gun has become a way of life. "Africans solving African problems" seems to be working for now. But in the end, Somalia's patchwork of private militias needs to be integrated into a unified national force - one that will defend the security of the population, not just the interests of the clan.

इस्लामी समूह अल-शबाब, जो मध्य और दक्षिणी सोमालिया के बड़े हिस्सों को नियंत्रित करता है, को हाल ही में अल-कायदा-सहयोगी आतंकवादियों से लड़ रहे अफ्रीकी संघ बल एमिसम के हाथों महत्वपूर्ण हार का सामना करना पड़ा है। बीबीसी का गैब्रियल गेटहाउस मोगादिशु में है और उनके साथ यात्रा कर रहा है।


The day Iceland's women went on strike

Summary: Forty years ago, the women of Iceland went on strike - they refused to work, cook and look after children for a day. It was a moment that changed the way women were seen in the country and helped put Iceland at the forefront of the fight for equality.

By Kirstie BrewerReykjavik When Ronald Reagan became the US President, one small boy in Iceland was outraged. "He can't be a president - he's a man!" he exclaimed to his mother when he saw the news on the television. It was November 1980, and Vigdis Finnbogadottir, a divorced single mother, had won Iceland's presidency that summer. The boy didn't know it, but Vigdis (all Icelanders go by their first name) was Europe's first female president, and the first woman in the world to be democratically elected as a head of state. Many more Icelandic children may well have grown up assuming that being president was a woman's job, as Vigdis went on to hold the position for 16 years - years that set Iceland on course to become known as "the world's most feminist country". But Vigdis insists she would never have been president had it not been for the events of one sunny day - 24 October 1975 - when 90% of women in the country decided to demonstrate their importance by going on strike. Instead of going to the office, doing housework or childcare they took to the streets in their thousands to rally for equal rights with men. It is known in Iceland as the Women's Day Off, and Vigdis sees it as a watershed moment. "What happened that day was the first step for women's emancipation in Iceland," she says. "It completely paralysed the country and opened the eyes of many men." Banks, factories and some shops had to close, as did schools and nurseries - leaving many fathers with no choice but to take their children to work. There were reports of men arming themselves with sweets and colouring pencils to entertain the crowds of overexcited children in their workplaces. Sausages - easy to cook and popular with children - were in such demand the shops sold out. It was a baptism of fire for some fathers, which may explain the other name the day has been given - the Long Friday. "We heard children playing in the background while the newsreaders read the news on the radio, it was a great thing to listen to, knowing that the men had to take care of everything," says Vigdis. As radio presenters called households in remote areas of the country to gauge how many rural women were taking the day off, the phone was often answered by husbands who had stayed at home to look after the children. As I talk to Vigdis in her home in Reykjavik, she has on her lap a framed black-and-white photograph of the rally in Reykjavik's Downtown Square - the largest of more than 20 to take place throughout the country. Vigdis, her mother and three-year-old daughter are somewhere in the sea of 25,000 women, who gathered to sing, listen to speeches and talk about what could be done. It was a huge turnout for an island of just 220,000 inhabitants. At the time she was artistic director of the Reykjavik Theatre Company and abandoned dress rehearsals to join the demonstration, as did her female colleagues. "There was a tremendous power in it all and a great feeling of solidarity and strength among all those women standing on the square in the sunshine," Vigdis says. A brass band played the theme tune of Shoulder to Shoulder, a BBC television series about the Suffragette movement which had aired in Iceland earlier that year. Women in Iceland got the right to vote 100 years ago, in 1915 - behind only New Zealand and Finland. But over the next 60 years, only nine women took seats in parliament. In 1975 there were just three sitting female MPs, or just 5% of the parliament, compared with between 16% and 23% in the other Nordic countries, and this was a major source of frustration. The idea of a strike was first proposed by the Red Stockings, a radical women's movement founded in 1970, but to some Icelandic women it felt too confrontational. "The Red Stockings movement had caused quite a stir already for their attack against traditional views of women - especially among older generations of women whom had tried to master the art of being a perfect housewife and homemaker," says Ragnheidur Kristjansdottir, senior lecturer in History at the University of Iceland. But when the strike was renamed "Women's Day Off" it secured near-universal support, including solid backing from the unions. "The programme of the event itself reflected the emphasis that had been placed on uniting women from all social and political backgrounds," says Ragnheidur. Women's suffrage around the world Iceland was not the first country to give women the right to vote, but it was well ahead of the curve. 1893 New Zealand 1902 Australia 1906 Finland 1913 Norway 1917 Soviet Russia 1918 Canada, Germany, Austria, Poland 1919 Czechoslovakia 1920 US and Hungary * 1928 UK (limited suffrage from 1918) * 1971 Switzerland Source: Encyclopedia Britannica More from the BBC on women's suffrage Among the speakers at the Reykjavik rally were a housewife, two MPs, a representative of the women's movement and a woman worker. The final speech was given by Adalheidur Bjarnfredsdottir, head of the union for women cleaning and working in the kitchens and laundries of hospitals and schools. "She was not used to public speaking but made her name with this speech because it was so strong and inspiring," says Audur Styrkarsdottir, director of Iceland's Women's History Archives. "She later went on to become a member of parliament." In the run-up to the event the organisers succeeded in prompting radio, television and national newspapers to run stories on low pay for women and sex discrimination. The story attracted international attention too. But how did the men feel about it? "I think at first they thought it was something funny, but I can't remember any of them being angry," says Vigdis. "Men realised if they became opponents to this or refused to grant women leave they would have lost their popularity." There were one or two reports of men not behaving as Vigdis describes. The husband of one of the main speakers was reportedly asked by a co-worker, "Why do you let your woman howl like that in public places? I would never let my woman do such things." The husband shot back: "She is not the sort of woman who would ever marry a man like you." Styrmir Gunnarsson was at the time the co-chief editor of a conservative newspaper, Morgunbladid, but he had no objection to the idea. "I do not think that I have ever supported a strike but I did not see this action as a strike," he says. "It was a demand for equal rights… it was a positive event." No women worked at the paper that day. As he remembers it, none of them lost pay, or were obliged to take the day as annual leave, and they returned at midnight to help get the newspaper finished. It was shorter than usual, though - 16 pages instead of 24. "Probably most people underestimated this day's impact at that time - later both men and women began to realise that it was a watershed," he says. At the same time, he points out there have always been strong women in Iceland - something reflected in the (fictional) Icelandic Sagas. "Our past is in our blood and through the centuries life was difficult in Iceland," Styrmir says. "Those who survived must have been strong." The Women's Day Off is generally regarded in Iceland as a seminal moment, though at least one member of the Red Stockings regarded it as a missed opportunity - a nice party that did not really change anything. Vigdis disagrees. "Things went back to normal the next day, but with the knowledge that women are as well as men the pillars of society," she says. "So many companies and institutions came to a halt and it showed the force and necessity of women - it completely changed the way of thinking." Five years later, Vigdis beat three male candidates to the presidency. She became so popular that she was re-elected unopposed in two of the three next elections. Other landmarks followed. All-women shortlists made an appearance in the 1983 parliamentary election, and at the same time a new Party, the Women's Alliance, won its first seats. In 2000, paid paternity leave was introduced for men, and in 2010 the country got its first female prime minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir - the world's first openly gay head of government. Strip clubs were banned in the same year. Saadia Zahidi, head of Gender Initiatives at the World Economic Forum (WEF) says Iceland still has further to go. "While more women than men are enrolled in university, the workplace gender gap persists," she says. "Women and men are nearly equally present in the labour force - in fact women are the majority across all skilled roles - but they hold about 40% of the leadership roles and earn less than men for similar roles." Nonetheless, Iceland has topped the WEF's Global Gender Gap Index since 2009. And if at the time of the Women's Day Off only three of the 63 members of parliament were women, the figure is now 28, or 44%. "We say in Iceland, 'The steps so quickly fill up with snow,' meaning there is a tendency to consign things to history," says Vigdis. "But we still talk about that day - it was marvellous." More from the Magazine A century ago, Iceland banned all alcoholic drinks. Within a decade, red wine had been legalised, followed by spirits in the 1930s. But full-strength beer remained off-limits until 1 March 1989. Megan Lane asks why it took so long for the amber nectar to come in from the Icelandic cold. Why Iceland banned beer Listen to Vigdis Finnbogadottir on Witness, on the BBC World Service Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

चालीस साल पहले, आइसलैंड की महिलाओं ने हड़ताल की-उन्होंने एक दिन के लिए काम करने, खाना पकाने और बच्चों की देखभाल करने से इनकार कर दिया। यह एक ऐसा क्षण था जिसने देश में महिलाओं को देखने के तरीके को बदल दिया और आइसलैंड को समानता की लड़ाई में सबसे आगे रखने में मदद की।


South Wales to London festive rail journeys up 90 minutes

Summary: Rail passengers face journeys of up to 90 minutes longer if they are travelling between south Wales and London over the festive period.

The line between Reading and London Paddington will be closed on 27 and 28 December for engineering works. The hourly services will be diverted via Banbury and Oxford ending at London Marylebone which is two stops away from Paddington on the Underground. As usual, there will be no train services on Christmas and Boxing Days.

रेल यात्रियों को 90 मिनट तक की लंबी यात्रा का सामना करना पड़ता है यदि वे त्योहार की अवधि में साउथ वेल्स और लंदन के बीच यात्रा कर रहे हैं।


Nova Scotia shooting: 'They had no idea the hell they were going to face'

Summary: Over the span of 12 hours, a gunman posing as a police officer went on a rampage across the province of Nova Scotia that became Canada's deadliest mass shooting. Here's what people swept up in the tragedy recall.

By Robin Levinson-King & Jessica MurphyBBC News, Toronto Dan Jenkins had plans to see his daughter Alanna on Sunday, but a text from a friend asking him if he'd spoken to her that morning alarmed him. When she didn't pick up the phone, he decided to hop in his car and check on her, driving an hour to her place in Wentworth. But when he got to the town, he was turned back by an RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) blockade. Meanwhile, his phone was being bombarded by text messages and calls from Alanna's neighbours. There were fires, and possibly what sounded like an explosion. He parked his car, and walked about a quarter-mile to some police vehicles, realising that something was very wrong. "I'm a dad. I've got to know where my little girl is," he told them. But it would be several days before he got confirmation that his daughter and her partner Sean McLeod had been killed by 51-year-old Gabriel Wortman, a denturist who had a clinic outside Halifax. Their bodies were found in their home, which was completely burned to the ground, and coroners had to identify their remains. Their two Labrador retrievers also died, Mr Jenkins says. Later, Mr Jenkins would learn they were two of 22 victims, the largest mass shooting in Canadian history. The victims included two frontline healthcare workers, an elementary school teacher and RCMP Constable Heidi Stevenson, a 23-year veteran of the RCMP and mother of two. All were adults, except for 17-year-old Emily Tuck, who was killed alongside her two parents. The killings spanned the 12 hours it took police to chase Wortman from Wentworth all the way to Enfield, where he was shot and killed by police. With 16 different possible crime scenes across at least seven different towns in the province, the investigation involved over 25 different units within the RCMP as well as support from the Canadian Armed Forces. The complexities of the case meant that it took several days to identify all the victims, and several more before the police could release a timeline. There are still large gaps where Wortman's whereabouts are unknown. All the while, Mr Jenkins was desperate to know what had happened to his daughter, but also afraid of what he might learn. "There are things we want to find out and there are [other things] I don't know if I want to find out," Mr Jenkins told the BBC on Tuesday, before hearing the devastating news. The carnage began on Saturday evening, in the seaside community of Portapique, about 50 km south of Wentworth. From there, police believe Wortman went on a rampage across the province before dying in a shoot-out with police. Located on the Bay of Fundy, Portapique has a year-round population of just about 100 people, no sidewalks, no street lights, and is a popular spot for summer homes and weekenders looking for some relaxation. Local politician Tom Taggart says Portapique is "just a typical rural community" where people know their neighbours. "These people woke up Saturday to sunshine, a spring day, in a beautiful, peaceful community," he told the BBC. "They had no idea the hell they were going to face the next morning." Around 10:30pm, police got a report of gunshots in the area. But when they arrived, several bodies were found strewn across the lawns and along the road, and multiple homes were on fire. They also encountered a man who said he had been shot at from a passing police cruiser by a man in an RCMP uniform. Early into the investigation, police honed in on Wortman as a suspect. They heard that he had three replica police cruisers, both in Portapique and at his other residence in Halifax. With Wortman's own home on fire, they thought he may have committed suicide. Believing it to be a limited crime scene, they cordoned off about a 2km-radius of Portapique, and told residents to stay indoors. Over the course of the night, they were able to locate all three vehicles, but were not able to find their suspect. What they didn't know is that there was a fourth vehicle - a detail that would haunt them in the days to come, as Wortman used the cover of the law to create confusion. Word of mouth travels fast in Nova Scotia, one of Canada's smallest provinces with a population under one million, and news of the mayhem quickly spread. Harry Sullivan, a reporter with the Saltwire Network based in Truro, wasn't supposed to work that day. But the veteran journalist got in his car and headed to Portapique on Sunday morning. As he passed through the town of Debert, about halfway between his home and Portapique, he saw a police car driving "at a very high rate of speed with its red and blues flashing" in the opposite direction. "I thought: Why are they going that way when the action is the other way?" he told the BBC. As a journalist for over 40 years, Mr Sullivan says he's "covered some pretty nasty stuff", including the 1998 Swissair Flight 111 crash that killed all 229 passengers and crew. "I've never encountered anything like this," he says. Police are still trying to determine a motive, but they believe Wortman's first victim was his girlfriend, who escaped after being assaulted by him sometime earlier on Saturday. Hiding in the woods overnight, she emerged around 6am Sunday morning after calling 911. She told police about the fourth car, and gave important details about what kinds of weapons Wortman may be carrying. Nancy Hudson, who lived near Wortman in Portapique, told the National Post that Wortman was "very jovial" but that "he had another side". "He had an obsession with his girlfriend. Just being jealous about things with her. I think that's where things got in the way," she said. "She was a beautiful girl." Wortman also appears to have had a longstanding interest in the RCMP, which is in charge of policing in the province. Several people have noted that Wortman told them that he liked to fix up decommissioned police vehicles, and a copy of his high school yearbook that has circulated on social media says "Gabe's future may include being an RCMP officer". Believing they had located all of Wortman's police replicas the night before, RCMP did not warn the public until 9:17am on Sunday that there was an active shooter impersonating a police officer. Shortly after, RCMP began receiving calls about a shooter over 50km north of Portapique, in Wentworth. That is where Wortman is suspected of killing Alanna Jenkins and her partner Sean McLeod, as well as their neighbour Tom Bagley. Ms Jenkins and Mr McLeod were both correctional officers, and police say he knew two of those three victims. Ms Jenkin's father believes Mr Bagley had come over to check on the couple. The suspect then went over to a friend's home, dressed as a police officer and carrying a long gun. He banged on the door, but his friends did not let him in, and called the police instead. David Matthews says he was out walking with his wife near the highway in Wentworth near Wentworth around 9am when he nearly encountered Wortman himself. "When we got halfway through the trail, I heard this pop. It was loud enough to be a shot. It wasn't real close but it wasn't real far," he said. That pop, he now believes, was his neighbour, Lillian Hyslop, being shot. She had moved to the area just a few years ago with her husband. They would often run into each other on walks, and Mr Matthews believes she was just getting her daily exercise. "She was out walking a day before," he said. "I said be safe… you never think that that's the end." In the hours between his killing spree in Wentworth and his final confrontation with police, Wortman was able to use the cover of his "very convincing" replica RCMP cruiser and authentic police uniform to cause even more destruction. "I've been a police officer for more than 30 years now, and I can't imagine a more horrific set of circumstances than trying to search for someone who looks like you," says Superintendent Darren Campbell, who was tasked with updating the media on Friday. He says a witness saw someone who appeared to be an RCMP officer pull over a car in Debert, near Wentworth, and shoot the driver, before shooting another driver who passed by. These two victims were reportedly Heather O'Brien and Kristen Beaton, both frontline healthcare workers with the Victorian Order of Nurses who were out working with patients at the time of the attack. Mrs Beaton's husband told CTV News his wife was in the early stages of pregnancy, and they had watched reports of the shooting in Portapique on the news the night before. "We woke up (Sunday) morning and we just assumed it was over," Nick Beaton told CTV. Wortman's disguise would also lead to his tragic confrontation with Constable Heidi Stevenson and Constable Chad Morrison. As one of the many RCMP officers out on patrol that day, the two had agreed to meet up in Shubenacadie, about 50km south of Debert. Constable Morrison arrived at the meeting first, and when he saw another RCMP cruiser heading towards him, he assumed it was Constable Stevenson. Instead, it was Wortman, who began firing his weapon. Wounded, Morrison was able to drive away and escape, while Wortman headed north on the highway. That's where he ran into Stevenson, who was driving south to meet her colleague. Police say he crashed into Constable Stevenson head-on, before shooting her and setting both their cars ablaze. Constable Morrison has recovered from his injuries and is out of hospital. When a bystander, reportedly Halifax resident Joey Webber, stopped to help, Wortman shot him too, and stole his silver SUV. About an hour after the showdown in Shubenacadie, and after killing one more victim, Wortman's reign of terror would come to an end in a police shootout at a petrol station in Enfield, about 100km south from Portapique, where the crimes began. The tragedy has hit the province hard at a time when people are already under strain from coronavirus. Restrictions on public gatherings mean that no mass vigil can be held, and funerals will be small. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended a national online vigil on Friday evening, and locals are hoping to plan in-person memorials after the threat of the virus has passed. Mr Sullivan, the journalist who was called to the scene Sunday morning, says that since the shootings the entire community has rallied. On sign posts and house windows, people have hung messages for the victims' families reading "Nova Scotia strong" and "We will get over this". "While people are obviously hurting, we are also resilient and the overall mood that I am witnessing is one of pulling together to get through all this," he says. The support has not gone unnoticed by Mr Jenkins, whose daughter Alanna was killed. Seeing everybody's window with a candle in it "tells you that you have a community that cares," he says. But knowing that his daughter Alanna was just one of many victims, and that his suffering is felt by "probably hundreds" of others is hard to bear. "I wish it was just us grieving," he says.

12 घंटों की अवधि में, एक बंदूकधारी ने एक पुलिस अधिकारी के रूप में नोवा स्कोटिया प्रांत में तोड़फोड़ की जो कनाडा की सबसे घातक सामूहिक गोलीबारी बन गई। यहाँ लोगों को त्रासदी याद आती है।


Jayantha rejects Dinamina allegations

Summary: A leading journalist who was assaulted and still being treated has categorically denied state media reports that investigations into the assault are being halted as he has failed to appear before a special commission.

In a report published on Tuesday, Dinamina newspaper says that Poddala Jayantha has failed to appear before the presidential commission despite repeated requests to do so. Jayantha, the general secretary of Sri Lankan Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) was kidnapped, brutally assaulted and left on the road by unidentified assailants on 01 June. He is still being treated for his injuries, he says, after being treated in the hospital for 29 days. In a letter sent to the Commission on Tuesday, Poddala Jayantha says he is yet to receive any notice to appear before the Commission. Commission confirms "When I enquired with the Inspector at the Mirihana police station that conduct the investigation into the assault, I was told that he was not aware of any such call," the letter said. Justice (rtd.) Mahanama Thilakaratne, the president of the Commission, told BBC Sandeshaya that the request for Poddala to appear was sent, and the police were informed about the request. "Letters were sent in registered post, once or twice, asking him to appear before the court," he said. "We can continue the investigation if he appears even tomorrow." Admitting that he has changed his residency since the assault, Poddala Jayantha insists he is yet to receive any such letter. He has expressed his willingness to appear before the Commission "as soon as I will be able to walk as I am still unable to walk even with the support of walking sticks". The commission investigates incidents of abductions, disappearances, unexplained killings and unidentified bodies of persons.

एक प्रमुख पत्रकार, जिन पर हमला किया गया था और अभी भी उनका इलाज किया जा रहा है, ने राज्य मीडिया रिपोर्टों का स्पष्ट रूप से खंडन किया है कि हमले की जांच रोकी जा रही है क्योंकि वह एक विशेष आयोग के सामने पेश होने में विफल रहे हैं।


Poldark: How film-makers bring the show to life

Summary: Hit TV costume drama Poldark is much more than rugged Cornish coastline, moody weather and the brooding looks of Aidan Turner. As the programme begins its second series, BBC News explores the lengths film-makers go to create a period piece - and the dilemma they face between historical accuracy and staying true to the story.

By Sian DaviesBBC News Historical advisor Dr Hannah Greig From checking appropriate use of language in the script to working out what a bow of a ship might look like in 1790, Dr Hannah Greig tries to ensure Poldark is as accurate as it can be. But sometimes the show sacrifices historical accuracy for the sake of staying true to the novels, which were written by author Winston Graham in the late 1940s and early 1950s. "In series one, when Ross and Demelza first have sex, her dress is not of an 18th Century construction as it opens at the back, whereas all dresses then would have fastened at the front," said Dr Greig "But we stayed true to how Winston Graham described it in the novel - it's such a powerful and romantic scene - and because it's a fictional period drama we can stay true to those details in the book. The first source should be the novel." When researching for the show, the University of York lecturer says she always returns to 18th Century source material. "I'll use things like Old Bailey records to see what words should be said in a courtroom. I have advised on the content of letters, adverts on a wall and what a children's book might look like." Museum collections are also used - the Royal Cornwall Museum has a surviving 18th Century banknote. "There are a lot of banknotes put down in Poldark, on tables and in deals. You can see how these museum collections inform set and costume designers." Horse trainer Mark Atkinson Horse trainer Mark Atkinson, who provided 22 horses for series two, says it was like "love at first sight" for Aidan Turner and his horse Seamus. "Aidan came to try the horses and I've never known an actor and a horse get on as well as these two do," he said. People in 18th Century Cornwall would typically have got around on foot or on horseback. "Because the roads were pretty terrible in Cornwall then, carriages wouldn't have been used to a great extent," he said. George Warleggan, who is part of one of the richest families in Cornwall, has the biggest and most impressive horse. "He tends to be looking down on the other characters, which was completely deliberate to give him an air of superiority," Mr Atkinson said. The attention to detail does not stop there. Even the bridle Poldark uses reflects details about his character, and the time he spent fighting in the American War of Independence. "The bridle that Ross uses is half military, which he brought back from fighting in the Americas, and half which his father left for him. He also has a bedroll which he used to use in the Americas and he has nickel stirrups that are from the period," Mr Atkinson says. "For authenticity we use old documents, etchings, paintings - basically anything we can get our hands on. "We also teach the actors to ride, it's one of my favourite things to watch. It's like painting a picture - teaching them to ride is like drawing the outline. "You then need to work on all the detail and make sure they are comfortable on the horse and ride how the character would ride. You don't want Ross to look too correct, he needs to look relaxed and at home on the horse." Food stylist Genevieve Taylor Food created for the show does not need to be eaten - but it should reflect the social standing of the character, says food stylist Genevieve Taylor. She said there were tricks of the trade to make banquets look as good as possible on camera. "I ended up wrapping pastry around two Quality Street tins to make a giant pie," she said. "It's the biggest pie I have ever made. The pastry was secured with cocktail sticks and I used loads of salt to make it extra shiny. "With these creations, you don't know how long they are going to be sat about on set for - it's not the star of the show and is made with longevity in mind. "There is lots of historical information available, including cookbooks from the period. For example, the art department would get in touch and say we need food for a harvest supper for a well-to-do family. "It's my job to make the food look correct for the time and make it beautiful." Poldark returns to BBC One on Sunday 4 September at 21:00 BST. The Food Programme: Cooking for Poldark featuring food stylist Genevieve Taylor is broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Sunday 11 Sept at 12.30.

हिट टीवी कॉस्ट्यूम ड्रामा पोल्डार्क ऊबड़-खाबड़ कॉर्निश तटरेखा, मूडी मौसम और एडन टर्नर के परेशान करने वाले लुक से कहीं अधिक है। जैसे ही कार्यक्रम अपनी दूसरी श्रृंखला शुरू करता है, बीबीसी न्यूज फिल्म निर्माताओं द्वारा एक पीरियड पीस बनाने की लंबाई और ऐतिहासिक सटीकता और कहानी के प्रति सच्चे रहने के बीच की दुविधा की पड़ताल करता है।