Tax havens: Is the tide turning?

Summary: Around the world, grassroots opposition to tax avoidance is on the rise. But a survey shows that all but two of the UK's biggest 100 companies have subsidiaries in tax havens, from the Cayman Islands to Singapore. So is big business out of step with public opinion?

By Stephen Mulvey & Caroline McClatcheyBBC News Occupy Wall Street protesters demand corporations "pay their fair share" of tax. U2 comes under fire from protesters at the Glastonbury festival who accuse the band of taking advantage of low tax rates in the Netherlands. A global day of action against tax secrecy is marked in dozens of countries from Ghana to Brazil. Protesters stage sit-ins in shops and banks around the UK in the hope of getting tax avoidance by massive corporations on to the political agenda. In recent months, a loose coalition on "tax fairness" has emerged, uniting angry taxpayers, business ethics pressure groups and development NGOs. The focus is now on tax avoidance - legal arrangements to pay less tax, sometimes using complicated financial structures - rather than just illegal tax evasion. One of the campaigning groups, charity ActionAid, has just released data that shows, it says, the "addiction" of the FTSE 100 - the UK's most valuable companies - to tax havens. The data should have been publicly available, ActionAid says, but in many cases wasn't - the charity obtained it by filing complaints to Companies House. Then it counted how many subsidiaries each of the 100 companies has, and the proportion of them that are located in a tax haven. The headline results are: But there is no generally agreed definition of "tax haven". For its survey, ActionAid took a list used by the US Congress and added two further jurisdictions - the US state of Delaware and the Netherlands. Some consider countries to be tax havens if - like the Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands - the way they tax cross-border income allows companies to shift profits to genuine tax havens, Bermuda or the Cayman Islands, for example, where they avoid tax altogether. Delaware doesn't make company accounts public, and allows owners of companies to hide their identities. ActionAid is not accusing the companies of illegal tax evasion. It acknowledges that there is not even any proof of legal tax avoidance, just a strong whiff of it. "In most cases the huge number of subsidiaries in a given location does not reflect the actual level of business carried out. This suggests another motive for their choice," the charity says. But a whiff may be enough, in the current climate, to harm a company's reputation. The phrase "tax haven" itself has become a dirty word, says Peter Truesdale, associate director of business advisory firm, Corporate Citizenship. "And that is because there is a clean word, that people understand - 'transparency'. If your affairs are not transparent, why should I trust you? People think someone has something to hide." A recent report by Mr Truesdale and two other Corporate Citizenship staff notes: "The distinction between evasion (illegal) and avoidance (lawful) has dissolved in the eyes of governments, NGOs and citizens." Increasingly, people are demanding not just that a company's tax affairs are legal, but that they are "fair". This is a very difficult thing to define, notes a London tax specialist at a large financial services firm, who asked to remain anonymous. "There is a debate to be had about what proper amount of tax to pay to a particular jurisdiction. One person's perception may be very different from another's." When directors take such decisions, he goes on, they have to bear in mind their duty to increase profits and increase value for shareholders. But while "tax efficiency" is important, it is now rare to find companies that do not also consider how their actions will be judged in the increasingly harsh court of public opinion. "The public debate tends to be black and white, emotive and headline-grabbing," he says. "In reality it's a much more complicated problem. From the business perspective, it can sometimes seem it is the public debate about tax that is unfair. A company like Vodafone might point out it has businesses in 30 countries, and paid £2.6bn in corporate tax worldwide in the last financial year. Vodafone says the UK is only a small bit of the overall group, and that it effectively gives £700m to the Exchequer every year in VAT, employee taxes and national insurance. Richard Baron, head of taxation at the UK-based Institute of Directors, says there is no doubt that there are some very complicated avoidance schemes that use tax havens but people should not always impute a "dodgy reason". For example, a firm may have a number of businesses in Africa but it wants to group all of them under a single holding company. "You want to make sure you don't get an extra layer of tax when the profits flow up. For that reason you may put a holding company in a low tax country and you may choose that country because it has strong corporate governance and you want to know your money is safe." Companies also do it when they need to create a "group treasury operation" so money can flow between their different parts all around the world. "That operation does not belong to any particular country so you put it in a low tax country as you don't want to suffer an extra bill as you move money around." Advertising giant WPP topped ActionAid's table with 611 subsidiaries registered in places widely regarded as tax havens. But a spokesman says WPP is a holding company for 150 brands which operate in 107 countries, some of which have a lower tax rate than the UK. "We have come top of the table because of the international spread of our business and multi-brand business model and not because of any tax initiative," he added. David McNair, senior economic justice adviser at the charity Christian Aid, says tax havens are used in a variety of ways, but the general principle - for a business active in a number of countries - is to maximise the amount of profit made by subsidiaries based where taxes are low, at the expense of those based where taxes are high. This can be done by inflating or deflating prices, when the different parts of the business trade between themselves. Alternatively, one part can lend to another at a high interest rate (and profit from tax deductions on the interest payments at the same time). There are rules - known as transfer pricing rules - which govern the prices that can be charged between companies in the same group but McNair says they are notoriously hard to apply, particularly for developing countries. "Transfer pricing rules enshrine the 'arm's length principle'. The problem is determination of what is an arm's length price for, say, intellectual property, management services, or interest rates on an intra-company loan - where there is no open market and no comparable price to determine if the arm's length principle has been applied." Christian Aid's concern, like ActionAid's, is that the biggest losers are developing countries, which often lack the expertise and the capacity to prevent companies exploiting tax loopholes, and when tax havens are involved their secrecy means they lack the most basic information. ActionAid cites an estimate mentioned by the secretary general of the OECD, Angel Gurria, that developing countries lost almost three times as much to tax havens each year as they receive in aid. Christian Aid was one of the organisers of the global day of action, on Friday, aimed at persuading the G20 to put tax secrecy on the agenda for its summit in Cannes next month. The G20 summit in April 2009 ended with leaders declaring their intention to take action against tax havens but campaigners argue that the efforts since then to increase transparency have in practice had little effect. According to McNair, public concerns about tax secrecy and tax fairness can be traced partly back to this summit. The recession has done the rest. "We are facing austerity, governments are cutting basic services," he says. "If companies are getting away with escaping tax, this may be legal but it's unfair."

दुनिया भर में, कर से बचने का जमीनी स्तर पर विरोध बढ़ रहा है। लेकिन एक सर्वेक्षण से पता चलता है कि ब्रिटेन की सबसे बड़ी 100 कंपनियों में से दो को छोड़कर सभी की सहायक कंपनियां कर पनाहगाहों में हैं, केमैन द्वीप समूह से सिंगापुर तक। तो क्या बड़े व्यवसाय जनता की राय से परे हैं?


HS2 protesters spending coronavirus lockdown in trees

Summary: As the nation is told to stay at home, defiant protesters against HS2 have chosen to self-isolate at makeshift camps in under-threat forests. Dozens are living in ancient woodlands during lockdown - spending the days up trees - where they say they have been isolating as though they are a single, large household.

By Phil MackieToday, BBC Radio 4 The camp at Crackley Woods, near Kenilworth, Warwickshire, consists of a roundhouse built from hay bales and covered in tarpaulin, a field kitchen, about 20 small tents and a handful of camper-vans. The landowner gave the protesters permission to set up here before lockdown, and they have continued to do so over the past six weeks. Supporters bring food and care packages and leave them at the edge of the camp. It was originally made up of locals from the Stop HS2 campaign group, but they have been joined by people from other organisations including Extinction Rebellion. It is possible to walk along a public bridleway which brings you through the woods to the edge of the camp, and to the fences which have been erected by HS2 contractors to keep the protesters out. On one side are mobile CCTV camera units called Armadillos, as well as HS2 staff wearing PPE who are patrolling the boundary to check for incursions. On the other side, the protesters have built tree-houses and a gantry so they can see what's happening over the fence. Nearly all of the trees that should have been felled have been taken down over the past few weeks. The campaigners took to the treetops to try to stop the work going ahead, and a number were arrested by enforcement officers. One, known as Quercus - the Latin for oak - is a former tree surgeon. He spends most of the day in a tree-house 30ft up. He told me when he saw the trees coming down he was "overcome with grief" and he was willing to be arrested again to try to stop the trees being felled. He has been at the camp for several weeks and says he feels it is important to continue the fight as the country remains in lockdown. "Even before we had the pandemic and lockdown, there were a vast minority of people that were able to come out and do protests like this - certainly far fewer people now," he said. "People's democratic right to protest and have their say has been taken away at this time." Another protest group, called HS2 Rebellion says it has blockaded more than 20 other sites around the UK from London to Crackley Woods. One member said in an online video: "Our nurses and doctors are without PPE, yet these workers can continue because the Government deems them key workers. "Our real key essential workers are without PPE because of projects like this." A statement said the group "wish to emphasise the public resistance to HS2'S destruction of our ancient woodland and wildlife habitats, and HS2'S failure to stop construction works at multiple sites breaching HSE Covid guidelines and exposing their workers, protesters, families and communities to unnecessary risk during a national health crisis". Campaigners claim 108 ancient woodlands along the route, which has been given the go ahead by the government, are under threat. HS2 said that was an exaggeration. Paul Faulkner, chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, is a big supporter of the project. He believes it has very strong green credentials and says a tiny fraction of the country's ancient woodland will be felled. "HS2 is aiming to be the world's most sustainable high-speed railway. It's got a whole host of pro-environmental measures that it's introducing, and that's before we get on to the massive economic benefits that HS2 is going to bring." Stop HS2 has argued the economic benefits have never been proven and they believe the money would be better spent after lockdown ends. Chief executive of HS2 Mark Thurston said 11,000 people from 2,000 companies were already working on the project and he expected that to double over the next two years. "We see HS2 now as having an important role in getting the economy back on its feet," he said. The Department for Transport said in a statement: "While the government's top priority is rightly to combat the spread of coronavirus, we should not delay work on our long-term plan to level up the country." Matt Bishop grew up in Coventry and visited Crackley Woods when he was a child. He has become one of the camp's leaders. He still hopes the project - which has been given the green light by the government - can be halted. "We need to show the government that you cannot just draw a line across the middle of the countryside. That's just not acceptable," he said. The first train is not expected to roll into the new Birmingham Curzon Street station until 2029.

जैसा कि राष्ट्र को घर पर रहने के लिए कहा जाता है, एच. एस. 2 के खिलाफ अवज्ञाकारी प्रदर्शनकारियों ने खतरे वाले जंगलों में अस्थायी शिविरों में आत्म-पृथक करने का विकल्प चुना है। दर्जनों लॉकडाउन के दौरान प्राचीन जंगलों में रह रहे हैं-पेड़ों पर दिन बिता रहे हैं-जहां वे कहते हैं कि वे अलग-थलग हो रहे हैं जैसे कि वे एक एकल, बड़े घर हैं।


Will China fall flat on its face just like Japan?

Summary: In the late 80s, Japan was the Godzilla economy.

By Laurence KnightBusiness reporter, BBC News Its output had grown 50-fold in dollar terms in the space of just over a generation, and Japan had seemingly overtaken the US as the most hi-tech nation. For many observers it was just a matter of a decade or so before Japan would become the world's biggest economy and its third superpower. But, of course, things didn't turn out that way. Instead, in 1990 Japan's stock market and property market both crashed spectacularly, leaving two decades (and counting) of economic stagnation in their wake. The more recent giddy rise of China's dragon economy is chillingly familiar. And many sceptical commentators have drawn the analogy with Japan, saying it is destined for a fall. But is this fair? We have put the two head-to-head, so you can decide:

80 के दशक के अंत में, जापान गॉडज़िला अर्थव्यवस्था था।


Video game movies: Are they really that bad?

Summary: What do you think is the best video game movie of all time?

By Vikki BlakeNewsbeat reporter Millions of people have been watching the trailer for a new film based on the Mortal Kombat video game series. The gruesome teaser has got gamers across the world excited about the return of the franchise to the silver screen. But not all video game movies get such positive attention. The BBC Sounds Press X to Continue podcast has been digging in to the best and worst. "There are so many video game adaptations that you think are going to be amazing before they come out," says Gav Murphy, from RKG Video. "I was like, 'Assassin's Creed is going to be incredible when it comes out' - and it's just boring. It's joyless." Game reviewer and Twitch streamer, Inel Tomlinson, on the other hand, took issue with a listener who wanted to rank Doom as the worst video game adaptation. "Are you trying to tell me Doom is worse than Dead or Alive? "It's very fanservice-y," he says of the Dead or Alive movie. "The stuff that you get in the game… well, you're getting it in the movie." The new Mortal Kombat movie will be the latest in a string of movie adaptations based on fighting games. That's "kind of weird" according to Gav. "I know there's a lot of fighting game fans out there, but I don't think any of them would say that they play Street Fighter and Tekken for the story," he says. Ali Plumb, Radio 1's film critic, thinks the capacity to create convincing special effects may make all the difference to filmmakers taking video games to the big screen. "When you make a Mortal Kombat movie right now, the cost of visual special effects is a lot less," he says. "The simplicity of making good-ish or good-enough special effects is there. In 1997 (when earlier versions were released) it was not. "So I think right now is the time for a Mortal Kombat film, because it can keep up with what it needs to do." As for the best of the bunch? The recent Sonic the Hedgehog movie has to be in the mix according to Ali. "It's a good little film. It's not perfect, but I think it's a surprisingly large amount of fun. "Does it really have a plot? Not so much. Does it make any sense? Nah. But I can totally see my God kid loving this movie." Another video game movie adaptation getting the thumbs up is horror Silent Hill. "I think it tried to do what the game does, which is an imposing sense of dread," says Gav. Inel insists family-favourite Detective Pikachu is also "way better than it should be". And of course, some of the very worst offenders become enjoyable for all the wrong reasons. "When it comes to these kind of game films, I enjoy them for how bad they are," he laughs. "I've got two words for these films," adds Ali. "It's terrible and brilliant. So it's terra-brilliant. "It's appalling but I can't stop watching." Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.

आपको क्या लगता है कि अब तक की सबसे अच्छी वीडियो गेम फिल्म कौन सी है?


Israel's unwanted African migrants

Summary: For nearly a year Israel has been offering African migrants cash and the chance to go and live in what is supposed to be a safe haven in a third country - but the BBC has spoken to two men who say that they were abandoned as soon as they got off the plane. One was immediately trafficked, the other left to fend for himself without papers.

By Kathy HarcombeBBC News, Israel Adam was 18 when he arrived in Israel in 2011. Attackers had burned down his home in Darfur at the height of the genocide, and he had spent his teenage years in a UN refugee camp in another part of Sudan. With no prospects in the camp and no sign of an end to the conflict in Darfur, he made his way north through Egypt and the lawless Sinai peninsula to Israel. But Israel - which has approved fewer than 1% of asylum applications since it signed the UN Refugee Convention six decades ago - has not offered asylum to a single person from Sudan. It turned down Adam's application, and last October, when he went to renew the temporary permit allowing him to stay in the country, he was summoned to a detention centre known as Holot, deep in the Negev desert. This was no surprise for Adam. As most Sudanese and Eritreans in Israel know, it's just a matter of time before they get the call to Holot. The government calls Holot an "open-stay centre", but it's run by the prison service and rules are strict, including a night-time curfew, which, if broken, will land you in jail. It's in such an isolated area that there's very little to do and nowhere to go. I talked to Adam and a group of his friends just outside the gates of Holot, where, at that time, they spent most of their day playing cards or snooker, and eating and cooking in makeshift restaurants. They told me they took turns to make the hour-long bus ride into the nearest town, Beersheva, where they bought food. The meals served in Holot were insufficient, they said, and contained little meat or protein. Most of the men there were young - in their 20s or early 30s. Some had been teachers, activists or students in their own countries. "We are wasting our youth here," Adam says. "If someone lives in Holot, they have no future... You find many people here go crazy." Since I visited Holot, those makeshift restaurants and game areas have all been demolished on the orders of the government, leaving those inside with even fewer ways to pass the time. Adam will be held in Holot for 12 months. Then he is likely to face a stark choice: The Israeli government has deals with two countries in Africa to host its unwanted migrants. It promises that people who take the option of "voluntary departure to third countries" will receive papers on arrival that give them legal status in the country. Find out more Watch Kathy Harcombe's TV report for Focus on Africa on BBC World News at 17:30 GMT, Wednesday 3 February. As an extra incentive, they're given $3,500 (£2,435) in cash, handed over in the departure lounge of the airport in Tel Aviv. Israel refuses to name the two African countries but the BBC has spoken to migrants who say they were sent to Rwanda and Uganda. One is Tesfay, an Eritrean who was flown to Rwanda in March 2015, and he told me that far from being offered legal status, a home and the chance of a job in Rwanda - as he had been promised in Israel - he became a victim of trafficking. His identity papers - a travel document and a single-entry visa to Rwanda, both issued in Israel - were immediately confiscated at Kigali airport, he says. Then, along with nine other Eritreans, he was taken to a "guest house". None of them was allowed out. It would be dangerous without papers, they were told. Then, two days after arriving, the men were told it was time to leave. "You are going to Uganda. But before you go, you need to pay $150," said a man who introduced himself as John. "Then from the border to Kampala you need to pay again." Crammed into a minibus, they made the six-hour journey to the Ugandan border, where they were told to get out of the bus. "When we crossed the border, that's when I understood that we were being smuggled," Tesfay says. "We went on foot, silently. We were being smuggled from one state to another." As promised by "John", they had to pay another $150 to continue their journey to the Ugandan capital, Kampala. But inevitably, having entered as illegal immigrants, they were arrested on arrival and put behind bars - after police had relieved them of about half the cash in their pockets, Tesfay says. With what was left, Tesfay managed to post bail. He was due to appear in court five days later and having already been warned he was likely to be deported to Eritrea - the repressive authoritarian state he had fled in the first place - he decided to take no chances. He paid another smuggler to get him into Kenya, where he is now seeking asylum. Rwanda has never confirmed that it struck a deal to host Israel's unwanted migrants. The Ugandan government, for its part, has denied outright that such a deal exists - it told the BBC it was investigating how migrants who claimed to have been sent from Israel were entering the country. The BBC spoke to a man from Darfur who said he was flown to Uganda from Israel with seven others in 2014, before the third country policy became official. For safety reasons, he asked to remain anonymous. "None of the things I was promised were given to me," he said. "No documents, no passport, no assistance - nothing. (Israel) just wants to take people and dump them." In October, Israeli immigration authorities said 3,000 asylum seekers had left Israel for a third country. But the BBC has learned that only seven have registered with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Rwanda, all of them Eritreans, and only eight, mostly from Sudan, in Uganda. Meanwhile, there are about 45,000 Eritreans and Sudanese in Israel. The government won't deport them - that would be a clear breach of the UN Refugee Convention, which it signed in 1954. Under the Convention, no-one can be forcibly returned to a country where they have a justified fear of persecution. But if Israel treats them as refugees at least in this respect, why does it then refuse them asylum? Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon says the migrants threaten the security, and the identity, of the Jewish state. "It's obvious that we live here in a situation which is rather complex and complicated. And if you add this element of migrants who come here and who want to stay here - undoubtedly because this is a rich and prosperous country - then it could become also a challenge to our identity here in Israel. "It's not only about the 45,000 or 50,000 people that already are here in Israel, it's about the potential. Because those people tell their friends and families back home - 'Look, this is a very nice place. Do come over.'" And, of course, in Israel there is also the ever present issue of security. "Open borders through which migrants can pass mean also open borders through which terror organisations can penetrate Israeli territory and commit terror acts," Nahshon says. But lawyers fighting against the Third Country policy in Israel's Supreme Court argue that the country is in breach of its obligations under the UN Refugee Convention. "[Migrants] are stigmatised as 'infiltrators' and then have their asylum application adjudicated in sort of a conveyor-belt system which rejects everyone," says one of the lawyers, Anat Ben-Dor. "And then the whole idea of asking them to give their 'voluntary' consent to something they do not know because this is a secret arrangement... Of course this is not voluntary because you are using the threat of putting them indefinitely in prison if they refuse to go. "And then when they land in one of those two countries the lack of proper monitoring cannot really secure, in the necessary certainty, that those people would not end up either without [legal] status, or in prison, or - worst of all - being returned to places where they would face danger." Sigal Rozen, from the Israeli human rights group Hotline for Refugees and Migrants, says that the failure by Israel to guarantee the migrants' security in Rwanda and Uganda means they are forced to risk their lives elsewhere. "Some of them continue to South Sudan, others to Kenya, to Ethiopia, and many end up in Europe after they take the route through Libya and Italy. Unfortunately many others die on the way and we never hear from them again," she says. There's a joke among the migrants, she says, that the Israeli government's departing "gift" of $3,500 is just enough money to get to Europe. But the Israeli government is adamant that it's acting within the framework of international law and is offering a fair deal to the migrants. But in Tesfay's opinion, he did not get a fair deal. "The Israeli authority - it's not what they promised. I have no safety - I have no protection at all," he says. The risk is that Adam and the other residents of Holot will experience exactly the same thing when they arrive in Africa. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

लगभग एक साल से इज़राइल अफ्रीकी प्रवासियों को नकद और किसी तीसरे देश में सुरक्षित पनाहगाह माने जाने वाले स्थान पर जाने और रहने का मौका दे रहा है-लेकिन बीबीसी ने दो लोगों से बात की है जो कहते हैं कि उन्हें विमान से उतरते ही छोड़ दिया गया था। एक को तुरंत तस्करी कर लिया गया था, दूसरे को बिना कागजात के खुद को बचाने के लिए छोड़ दिया गया था।


Yogi Adityanath: 'Muslims did no favour to India by staying here'

Summary: Muslims who chose to stay in India when it was partitioned following independence from Britain did the country "no favours", Yogi Adityanath, one of India's most controversial right-wing politicians, has said.

"They should have opposed partition, which led to the formation of Pakistan," he told BBC Hindi's Nitin Srivastava in an exclusive interview. Mr Adityanath is the chief minister of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state and home to nearly a quarter of India's 200 million Muslims. He is also a top leader in the governing Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His government has recently been accused of using excessive force against protesters, especially Muslims, opposing a contentious new citizenship law. But Mr Adityanath has denied these widespread allegations, even though they have been backed by compelling evidence. The 47-year-old, saffron-robed, head priest of an influential Hindu temple is no stranger to controversy - he has made headlines for his hardline rhetoric, often directed against Muslims. His comments appear to have intensified amid anti-government protests spurred by the citizenship law, known as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). It offers amnesty to non-Muslim illegal immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It has been criticised for targeting Muslims, but Mr Modi's government insists it does no such thing, and only seeks to indentify unauthorised immigrants. But the law sparked massive protests in December, including large sit-in demonstrations, some of which are still continuing. The most notable of these is in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, where hundreds of Muslim women have been camped out in protest for more than a month now. In a veiled reference to the protesters in Shaheen Bagh, the chief minister told the BBC: "Men of a particular community, who are cowards, are sitting in their quilts and sending women and children out of their homes to protest against this law." While accepting that "everyone has the right to peacefully protest in India", he claimed that the protest in Shaheen Bagh was "not peaceful, and was causing trouble to commuters and residents". The protest has been peaceful, but its location on one of Delhi's biggest roads has led to traffic snarls, although demonstrators allow emergency vehicles to pass through. But this is not the first time Mr Adiyanath has spoken out against the protests in Shaheen Bagh. During the interview, he repeated an accusation he has levelled against Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of the national capital, Delhi: that he "feeds hundreds of protesting women and children biryani", a popular rice-based dish that's associated with Muslim cuisine. This is a claim he has made while campaigning for this Saturday's state election in Delhi, where he has invoked "Hindu nationalistic pride", while ridiculing neighbouring Pakistan. Mr Kejrwal, a fierce critic of the BJP and Mr Modi, is up for re-election. His party won an emphatic victory in 2015, defeating all opposition, including the BJP. "We aren't the biryani-eating people", Mr Adityanath has said on the campaign trail, adding that after becoming PM, Mr Modi has been "shooting terrorists with bullets rather than giving them biryani." He told the BBC he stood by this statement. The protests against the CAA saw hundreds injured, and many even died amid violent clashes with police. And protesters often accused the police of using excessive force against them. Nowhere have the allegations been more serious than in Mr Adityanath's Uttar Pradesh, where at least 19 people died in the protests. There have been numerous of reports of intimidation and threats against Muslims - videos from Kanpur city show policemen allegedly vandalising cars and homes in Muslim-populated areas. Thousands, mostly Muslim men, were detained across the state. The BBC reported on similar incidents in other cities. Mr Adityanath justified the firing against "violent protesters", while denying allegations of police using force against peaceful protesters. He said, "armed, rampaging mobs were dealt with by the police when they started damaging public property". Asked if he would order action against protesters again, he said, "Yes, if they damage public property in the garb of opposing a law, which is non-discriminatory." His government has also been accused of a series of extra-judicial killings since Mr Adityanath came to power in March 2017 - a charge he denied. "There have been no [such] killings", he said. "People opposing me have been spreading false rumours but my administration is running superbly. The truth will be out soon."

भारत के सबसे विवादास्पद दक्षिणपंथी राजनेताओं में से एक योगी आदित्य नाथ ने कहा है कि ब्रिटेन से आजादी के बाद विभाजन के बाद जिन मुसलमानों ने भारत में रहने का फैसला किया, उन्होंने देश पर कोई एहसान नहीं किया।


In pictures: Afghanistan commemoration service at St Paul's Cathedral

Summary: A service of commemoration has been held at St Paul's Cathedral to mark the end of UK involvement in the conflict in Afghanistan.

It was attended by the Queen and several members of the Royal Family, and politicians including Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Labour leader Ed Miliband. Also in attendance were the next of kin of those who were killed in the fighting, along with those who had served in Afghanistan.

अफगानिस्तान में संघर्ष में ब्रिटेन की भागीदारी के अंत को चिह्नित करने के लिए सेंट पॉल कैथेड्रल में स्मरणोत्सव की सेवा आयोजित की गई है।


Bridgwater missing mum and son 'safe and well' in Spain

Summary: A mother and her young son who were reported missing are safe and well in Spain, police have said.

Zivile Jokubonyte, 29, and her two-year-old son left Bridgwater on a flight to Valencia on 31 August. She has got in touch with Spanish authorities to confirm her whereabouts, Avon and Somerset Police said. The force initially made the appeal as her disappearance was "unexpected" and she had not contacted her mother since 4 September.

पुलिस ने कहा है कि एक माँ और उसका छोटा बेटा, जो लापता बताए गए थे, स्पेन में सुरक्षित और ठीक हैं।


Aberystwyth freelance photographer Keith Morris missing

Summary: A well-known photographer has been reported missing.

Dyfed-Powys Police said Keith Morris, 61, from Aberystwyth in Ceredigion, was last seen and spoken to on Thursday and reported missing at 14:30 BST on Friday. The coastguard said it assisted police with a search for a missing man in Aberystwyth on Friday and the search was continuing on Saturday. Anyone with information has been asked to contact police. The freelance press and wedding photographer is a regular contributor to radio and television programmes including BBC Radio Cymru.

एक प्रसिद्ध फोटोग्राफर के लापता होने की सूचना मिली है।


Labour promises a fairer, better society, Owen Smith says

Summary: Labour will tackle "immoral" Conservative policies if it wins the election, the shadow Welsh Secretary has told party delegates in Swansea.

Owen Smith said it would scrap the so-called bedroom tax and tighten tax laws "in line with people's values". Labour leader Ed Miliband had given the party its "mojo" back and was on the side of working people, he added. Mr Smith also claimed Labour was "the party of devolution" and rejected others' claims to speak for Wales. He denounced the Conservatives as "the real enemy of the people", Plaid Cymru as "out of touch", UKIP as a "rag-bag" and that he "can't be bothered" to say anything about the Liberal Democrats. Mr Smith also hailed the Welsh Labour government's record on jobs as being better than that of the Tory-led coalition at Westminster.

वेल्श के छाया सचिव ने स्वानसी में पार्टी के प्रतिनिधियों से कहा है कि अगर लेबर चुनाव जीतती है तो वह "अनैतिक" रूढ़िवादी नीतियों से निपटेगी।


Why do people risk their lives to get to the UK?

Summary: The exact circumstances of how 39 people came to be found dead in a lorry container on an industrial estate in Essex are yet to be confirmed, but questions have been raised about refugees and why they risk their lives to get to the UK.

By Duncan LeatherdaleBBC News Online Thousands of people have died trying to get to safety in Europe, some in the back of inter-continental lorries and others in small boats (some 17,480 migrants globally have drowned since the start of the 2014 crisis, according to UN data). There are all sorts of "painful and distressing" reasons people leave their home countries, according to Debbie Busler, head of refugee support at the British Red Cross. They might be fleeing conflict or escaping political, religious or sexuality-based persecution, for example. "Many people are so desperate to leave their country and get to safety they are prepared to risk their lives," Ms Busler says. "Risking their life is better than what they are escaping from." Official resettlement routes can take years to navigate with a complicated "adversarial system" often lacking simple support services like interpreters, Ms Busler says. "We want people to be treated with respect and dignity and for everyone to recognise these are real people in really difficult circumstances," Ms Busley says, adding: "Don't just see them under the term of 'asylum seeker'." The completion of a fence on the Bulgaria-Turkey border has seen people adopting different methods to get into Europe, according to the BBC's Eastern European correspondent Nick Thorpe. "Most asylum seekers trying to reach Western Europe do so hidden in trucks," he says. "One part of the smugglers' network hands them on to others. They are then kept in 'safe' houses in Bulgaria, usually close to the Serbian or Romanian borders, to be put into new trucks bound for Western Europe. "Since 2016, there have been fewer and fewer ways to enter Western Europe legally - hence the desperation of those on the road." Official figures have shown a decrease in the numbers seeking asylum, but numbers of those using unofficial routes are much harder to quantify. In the first nine months of this year, 1,742 people applied for asylum in Bulgaria of whom 132 were granted asylum, 212 were granted humanitarian status and 932 were refused. In 2018, 2,536 applied, in 2017 there were 3,700 applications and in 2016 there were 19,480. Since the start of the 2014 migrant crisis, 12 migrants have been found dead and one is missing presumed dead after illegally entering the UK, according to the UN's International Organisation for Migration (IOM). These included a man who fell from a plane into a garden in London. Five of those 12 died in a lorry or goods vehicles or from falling from such a vehicle. Other incidents involving multiple deaths in a lorry included one in Austria in 2015, when there were 71 victims. Finding migrants entering the UK in lorries is a big task, according to the National Crime Agency (NCA). Some 3.6 million lorries and containers entered the country in 2018 using 40 main ports, Department for Transport figures show. "The length of the UK's coastline and the sheer volume of passengers and freight entering the UK every year make identifying shipments containing illegal migrants a significant challenge," an NCA spokesman said. "People smugglers continue to favour hard-sided refrigerated lorries to transport migrants to the UK. "They also attempt to smuggle migrants in concealments in vans."

एसेक्स में एक औद्योगिक एस्टेट पर एक लॉरी कंटेनर में 39 लोगों के मृत पाए जाने की सटीक परिस्थितियों की पुष्टि अभी तक नहीं हुई है, लेकिन शरणार्थियों के बारे में सवाल उठाए गए हैं और वे यूके जाने के लिए अपनी जान क्यों जोखिम में डालते हैं।


Man charged over Godstone pensioner Dennis Kellond killing

Summary: A 41-year-old man has been charged with murdering a pensioner in a Surrey village.

Police said Darren John Robert McClean, of Coneybury in Bletchingley, is accused of killing 88-year-old Dennis Kellond. Mr Kellond's body was found in a house in Bletchingley Road, Godstone, on Monday. Officers said he died from a head injury. Mr McClean is due to appear before Guildford magistrates on Saturday.

सरे गाँव में एक 41 वर्षीय व्यक्ति पर एक पेंशनभोगी की हत्या का आरोप लगाया गया है।


John Nehemiah Rodney denies infecting three women with HIV

Summary: A man has denied recklessly infecting three women with HIV.

John Nehemiah Rodney, of Toothill, in Swindon, pleaded not guilty to three counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm against three women, when he appeared before magistrates in the town. The court heard the women had been infected with the virus. The 60-year-old is due to appear at Swindon Crown Court on 1 November.

एक आदमी ने लापरवाही से तीन महिलाओं को एच. आई. वी. से संक्रमित करने से इनकार किया है।


E.On Corsbie Moor wind farm goes to public hearing

Summary: The fate of a wind farm project in the Scottish Borders which has twice been reduced in size is to be determined by a public hearing next month.

E.On originally proposed 21 turbines at Corsbie Moor near Westruther. It cut that number to 12 and then to just nine after the company "considered all the views" of the local community. Scottish Borders Council refused planning permission in September last year but the firm appealed and a hearing will now be held on 10 April. The applicant and landowner will be among those giving evidence to the event in Lauder Public Hall. It will also hear from Scottish Borders Council and protest organisation, the Lauderdale Protection Group. Scottish government reporter Trevor Croft will hold a site visit the following day with a final decision expected in May.

स्कॉटिश सीमाओं में एक पवन फार्म परियोजना का भाग्य, जिसे आकार में दो बार कम कर दिया गया है, अगले महीने एक सार्वजनिक सुनवाई द्वारा निर्धारित किया जाना है।


The escorts who want to rebrand male prostitution as a business

Summary: Most people think of male prostitution as dangerous, degrading and exploitative work. But there are some who are attempting to reinvent it as a profession free of stigma by using all the tools of modern business, writes Mobeen Azhar.

"The aim is to be the best escort in the world." Josh Brandon's conviction is punctuated by a strong Welsh valleys accent. The twentysomething moved to London four years ago with dreams of modelling and celebrity. But soon after his arrival he began working as an escort. Now he has a price list which includes hourly rates and a discount for block booking. He issues loyalty cards so customers who pay for nine "appointments" get their tenth free. "I have a very professional booking system and I offer complete discretion," he says. "My business model serves my clients and it serves me." Brandon's home and "work space" is in the centre of London's Soho, on the doorstep of the West End. It's the kind of area that most Londoners can't afford to live in. But for Brandon, his monthly rental costs are an investment. "Everyone knows this area," he says. "There is a constant stream of tourists. London is probably the most visited city in the world so there are always new clients. "I get Americans and a lot of Arabs. I've met clients visiting London and now they fly me out to their home countries for my services. I just got back from Munich. I was seeing an arms dealer. The most I've ever made is £30,000 in a month. When I work that hard, the money can be great." Brandon isn't alone in his enthusiasm. Russell Reeks runs the classified section at the gay listings magazine QX. He says London is now an international magnet for male sex workers. "These days we have every nationality in the world represented in our back pages," he says. "Some days, men come into the office with suitcases in tow, straight from the airport. Some of them can't even speak English but they want to get their advert sorted out before anything else, even before they've found a place to stay." One of those with an advert is Tommy, from Brazil. He's still learning how to speak English but that hasn't stopped him from making money. "Working in a bar was just no good - too much work and not enough money," he says. "I had a friend that was already here from Brazil. He was escorting and told me I should try. "After I placed the advert my phone wouldn't stop ringing. I've seen two clients already today and I have two more tonight. I charge £140 for an hour so you can work it out. If I work all weekend I don't have to work in the week at all. "My first day was hard because one client asked me to have sex without a condom, but I just had to say no. I take my safety seriously." Many sex workers take their sexual health very seriously, says Michael Underwood, a nurse at a sexual health clinic. "We run a drop-in clinic especially for sex workers," he says. "We often find that they're using condoms as part of their work. In London generally, we have seen an increase in HIV infection but that's something that isn't generally happening among escorts. If they take their work seriously, they're not going play around with their health." The vision of prostitution as an industry riddled with disease, addiction and victimhood is something that the likes of Brandon want to overturn, but it's an image that still rings true for many escorts. Nico is now 40 and has been selling sex since he was 16. He moved from his childhood home near Normandy, France, to Paris and then to London with aspirations to work in retail. For a time he worked in Knightsbridge selling designer menswear in a glossy department store. But his attempt at a normal career was short-lived. "I started selling sex because I was such a nervous teenager. I couldn't cope with normal life. I had no support from my family. It was my only option. I started doing drugs to escape what I was doing to my body. At 16, most of my clients were old men so the drugs helped me to switch off. Even now, I use crack and crystal meth. "When I don't have enough money to feed my habit, I escort. The main difference between Paris and London is the drugs. In London you can get anything. There is always someone to pay for sex and there is always a drug dealer willing to take your money. Maybe one day I'll get clean and stop but I just can't do that right now." Nico's story - familial rejection and drug addiction - might be one many would assume to be the norm, but Brandon is evangelical about clean living. "Drugs are completely unprofessional," he says. "They don't fit in with my brand and what I'm aiming for." And familial rejection is not a given, either. "When I won Male Sex Worker of the Year, I texted my dad," says Brandon. "He said: 'I'm proud of you son.'" Brandon's father, who still lives in the Welsh valleys and works on the railways, is quietly accepting of his son's work. "I know what he does and I don't shout about it from the rooftops. I wouldn't discuss it with my friends. I tell him to be careful but what else can you do? As long as he keeps safe, good luck to him." There has been a slow societal shift in the acceptability of sex work, says Del Campbell from the Terence Higgins Trust. "There is a lot less stigma for men who sell sex," he says. "Often, the women are still seen as victims but for some gay men, escorting is now a normal job. You could mention that you're an escort at a dinner party and in some circles, no one would bat an eyelid." But there is still stigma. "It's all about the individual," says Campbell. "I meet some escorts who talk about needing to escape the shame of having sex for money. They feel a deep sense of guilt about lying to their families. A lot of the foreigners tell their families that they are working in a restaurant or a shop. They can't cope with the constant dishonesty. "You have to tell those men that escorting probably isn't for them. But you do get people who genuinely view escorting as a job like any other. Some enjoy their work. We should support them. Stigma is never helpful." Listen to Boy for Rent on the BBC World Service on Saturday, 11 January at 09:06 GMT or Sunday, 12 January at 20:06 GMT. You can also download the programme via the Documentaries podcast. Follow @BBCNewsMagazine on Twitter and on Facebook On a tablet? Read 10 of the best Magazine stories from 2013 here

ज्यादातर लोग पुरुष वेश्यावृत्ति को खतरनाक, अपमानजनक और शोषणकारी काम मानते हैं। लेकिन कुछ लोग हैं जो आधुनिक व्यवसाय के सभी साधनों का उपयोग करके इसे कलंक मुक्त पेशे के रूप में फिर से स्थापित करने का प्रयास कर रहे हैं, मोबीन अज़हर लिखते हैं।


Vandals put Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team out of action

Summary: Vandals have put mountain rescuers in Gwynedd temporarily out of action by cutting battery cables in three of its 4x4s.

They targeted Land Rovers belonging to the Llanberis Mountain Rescue Team (LMRT) in Nant Peris. North Wales Police is investigating the attack. On Sunday, LMRT was involved in a rescue near Llanberis waterfall after four swimmers got into difficulty and two men died. Police said that as well as battery cables being cut, bolts to doors were removed. Officers said it was only "by chance" that no emergency calls were received on Tuesday, as the rescue teams would not have been able to respond.

वैंडलों ने ग्वेनेड में पहाड़ी बचावकर्ताओं को इसके 4x4 में से तीन में बैटरी केबल काटकर अस्थायी रूप से कार्रवाई से बाहर कर दिया है।


Halifax death: Boy, 16, in court on stabbing murder charge

Summary: A 16-year-old boy has appeared in a youth court charged with the murder of a woman who was stabbed in Halifax.

Police were called by paramedics treating Paige Gibson on Cumberland Close at about 05:30 BST on Friday morning. The 23-year-old was taken to hospital where she died from her injuries. The boy, who cannot be named due to his age, was remanded at Bradford Youth Court to youth detention ahead of a crown court hearing on Tuesday. Read more Yorkshire stories Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk

हैलिफ़ैक्स में चाकू से एक महिला की हत्या के आरोप में एक 16 वर्षीय लड़का युवा अदालत में पेश हुआ है।


Czech pride in Jan Kubis, killer of Reinhard Heydrich

Summary: People in the Czech Republic are marking the seventieth anniversary of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, one of the most senior figures in Germany's Third Reich. Heydrich - the overall head of security in Nazi Germany and a leading architect of the Final Solution - was killed by British-trained Czechoslovak parachutists in what was codenamed Operation Anthropoid, prompting terrible reprisals by Hitler.

By Rob CameronBBC News, Prague Alois Denemarek was one of the last people to see Heydrich's assassin alive. It was early June, 1942, and Mr Denemarek had travelled from his home village in Moravia to Prague. There, in a small park by the National Museum, he met his boyhood friend Jan Kubis. Several days previously, Kubis and fellow parachutists Jozef Gabcik and Josef Valcik had carried out one of the most audacious attacks of World War Two. In broad daylight, they had mortally wounded SS Obergruppenfuehrer Reinhard Heydrich, the acting Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia, as he was heading to Berlin for a meeting with Hitler. Heydrich was known for his extraordinary brutality - even by Nazi standards. Hitler was beside himself with rage. The Nazis launched a massive manhunt. "I remember what Jan said to me when I met him," Mr Denemarek, now 94, told the BBC from his home in South Moravia. They had met to discuss how to help a wounded parachutist who the Denemarek family were sheltering in their hayloft. Kubis advised his friend not to risk bringing him to Prague. "He said - look, things are a bit tense here at the moment." That was something of an understatement. Gun jammed The story of Operation Anthropoid, devised by Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE), has been told in countless articles, books and films. On 27 May 1942, as Heydrich's open-top Mercedes limousine slowed to round a hairpin bend in Prague, Gabcik - armed with a Sten sub-machine gun - leapt in front of the car and pulled the trigger. The gun jammed. Heydrich ordered his driver to halt and drew his pistol. Kubis threw a bomb, which exploded near the car, and fled. Heydrich, wounded and in shock, pursued his attackers for several metres before returning to the car and collapsing. It initially seemed the attempt to kill Heydrich had failed. But he died in Prague's Bulovka hospital eight days later, reportedly from septicaemia from the shrapnel, or possibly fragments of upholstery. "I'm incredibly proud of what my friend did," Mr Denemarek told the BBC. "If it wasn't for Jan, I wouldn't be here today. Half the Czech nation wouldn't be here today. Heydrich had terrible plans for us Czechs," he went on. In January of that year, Heydrich had chaired the infamous Wannsee Conference, which set out plans for the enslavement and murder of 8 million European Jews. The Slavs, according to Heydrich's plans, would be next. Secret betrayed Kubis, Gabcik and Valcik hid for three weeks after the assassination before they were betrayed. On 18 June 1942, they were surrounded in the crypt of a church. For several hours, they and four comrades held off an assault by over 700 Waffen SS and Gestapo troops, who ordered the Prague Fire Brigade to flood the crypt. Some were eventually killed in the battle, and the rest took their own lives. Bishop Gorazd, the Orthodox priest who had sheltered them, was arrested, tortured and executed. Today, a few hundred metres from the church, on leafy Charles Square, a replica of a Nazi concentration camp has been erected, part of a series of exhibitions to commemorate the 70th anniversary. Inside the grey wooden huts are exhibits documenting the lives of 70 people who helped shelter the men. "In 1942, the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia was beginning to seem like it would last forever," said journalist Mikulas Kroupa, director of the Post Bellum oral history project organising the exhibition. "Most Czechoslovaks were paralysed by a feeling of defeat and humiliation. The killing of Heydrich roused the people into standing up to the Nazis. It showed we were not a nation of slaves," he told the BBC. The human cost was enormous. The men's families were rounded up and shot. The Czech villages of Lidice and Lezaky - based on flawed intelligence reports linking them to the parachutists - were razed and their inhabitants shot or sent to the camps. Another 15,000 people met the same fate. Heydrich's 'stupidity' Meanwhile, mass demonstrations of fealty to the Reich were held in Prague; those Czechs who attended were motivated perhaps more out of fear than grief. Hitler organised two massive state funerals for his trusted lieutenant - one in Prague, one in Berlin. In private, however, Hitler fumed at Heydrich's "stupidity", calling his refusal to travel with a bodyguard or allow armour-plating on his car "idiotic". The bend in the road is no longer there - it was eventually buried under a new highway by Communist city planners. Today the spot is marked by a memorial. Alois Denemarek's family paid a heavy price for sheltering the injured parachutist. A year after Heydrich's assassination, the Gestapo burst into their farmhouse, arresting everyone inside. Mr Denemarek's brother and the parachutist were executed. His parents died in concentration camps. Mr Denemarek himself miraculously escaped suspicion and survived. In a final ironic twist, after the war he was accused by the Communists of being a Nazi collaborator. "Of course it was worth it, killing Heydrich," Mr Denemarek told the BBC. "Even though it cost the lives of my family, my brother, my mother, my father and hundreds, thousands of other people." "But as I always say - that's nothing compared to the losses we would have suffered if Heydrich had been allowed to live."

चेक गणराज्य में लोग जर्मनी के थर्ड रीच में सबसे वरिष्ठ हस्तियों में से एक, रेनहार्ड हेड्रिक की हत्या की सत्तरवीं वर्षगांठ मना रहे हैं। हेड्रिक-नाजी जर्मनी में सुरक्षा के समग्र प्रमुख और अंतिम समाधान के एक प्रमुख वास्तुकार-को ब्रिटिश-प्रशिक्षित चेकोस्लोवाक पैराशूटिस्टों द्वारा मार दिया गया था, जिसे ऑपरेशन एंथ्रोपॉइड का कूटनाम दिया गया था, जिससे हिटलर द्वारा भयानक प्रतिशोध किया गया था।


The slow and deadly dzud in Mongolia

Summary: So far this year, more than one million animals have been killed by the dzud. The word conjures up an image of a mythical monster, but it is a peculiar weather phenomenon and the fear of herders on the Mongolian steppes, as journalist Helen Wright reports.

The piles of dead, frozen sheep and goats lie stacked against the rocks, just out of sight. They are victims of the dzud, an unseen and brutal natural disaster unique to Mongolia where a summer drought combines with a harsh winter and vast numbers of livestock die from either starvation or cold. The last dzud in 2010 killed eight million animals. It is thought to descend in five-yearly cycles and each time it wreaks havoc. "We are trying so hard to keep them alive," 50-year-old herder Bayankhand Myagmar says, talking about her dead sheep and goats. "But nothing we do is working." In Mongolia it hasn't rained since last July and this winter temperatures dropped to as low as -50C for days on end. Snowfall covered up to 60% of the country and fell heavier than usual. The dzud is made worse by overgrazing and a creeping desertification. Without rain grass is unable to grow across the vast steppes in summer and the millions of animals that live on them cannot put on enough weight to survive the winter cold. So they die. This winter more than 255,000 people have been affected by the dzud. When an animal's health is more important than its owner's Bayankhand lives in Uvs Province, more than 1,000km (621 miles) west of the country's capital Ulan Bator. She has been a herder since 1990 and this is the worst dzud she has lived though. She has already lost more than 450 of her 700 animals. Sitting inside her ger, a traditional round house, which she shares with her disabled daughter and son, she cries as she says: "If we lose all of the animals, we will have nothing to live on." The family are putting the animals' health above their own and 20 of the weakest animals stay inside the tent. But outside, several sheep are tied to the ground and their sides heave as they struggle to breathe. Bayankhand says she gets up four to five times a night to check on her remaining animals as they tend to sleep in a pile and can suffocate. She has already sold her car to pay for more hay this winter and is now in debt with local markets after buying more. "What will we do if we lose all of them?" Aid officials warn that nobody pays attention to this silent killer, but the impact is severe. Herders rely on their animals for almost everything: for meat and milk, they burn their waste to heat their homes and sell their skins to buy food and pay children's school and university fees. Losing their animals can mean they fall into poverty. Often, with no other choice, they migrate to a district centre or the capital, which is home to more than half of the country's 2.8 million people. But there they have no skills to get a job. The emergency begins when meat gets cheap Dogoonoo lives with 13 others in three small gers in Uvs Province. The 72-year-old started this winter with 230 livestock but 210 of those have died since January. "Watching the animals die is breaking us apart," she said. "But even if I have only one animal left, I will do everything in my power to keep it alive." Aid agencies in the country say if there is a summer drought, then there will be a dzud the following winter. But several are now trying to change when a dzud is officially recognised and the triggers for help are released. This year the government has not called the situation in the country an emergency, so it is less easy to appeal to international organisations for help. "In Mongolia there seems to be the attitude that you don't look forward if a bad winter is predicted, because that only encourages the bad dzud," Kevin Gallagher, deputy representative in Mongolia to the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations, says. He would like the triggers to start after a summer drought but before the snow starts to fall, as well as when the price of meat drops to 25% of its value. When this happens banks start to recall their loans to herders, which eventually means herders are left without feed to buy for their animals. This trigger already occurs in other parts of the world. Last autumn, as winter approached, herders slaughtered millions of their animals to try and sell them for meat. They already knew the weak would not make it through. This caused the price to drop from $75 to $25 for a sheep as the market became oversaturated and the cycle of insolvency for herders was set off. Even though the coldest months have now passed new grass will not grow on the steppes until late May and an estimated 1,000 animals a day will continue to die until then. So with each dzud, the traditional lifestyle of the herders on the steppes becomes that much more unfeasible.

इस वर्ष अब तक दस लाख से अधिक जानवर ज़ुद द्वारा मारे गए हैं। यह शब्द एक पौराणिक राक्षस की छवि को दर्शाता है, लेकिन यह एक अजीब मौसम की घटना है और मंगोलियाई मैदानों पर चरवाहों का डर है, जैसा कि पत्रकार हेलेन राइट रिपोर्ट करते हैं।


Norfolk Broads rescue operation after car plunges into river

Summary: A man has been arrested on suspicion of drink-driving after a car ended up in the Norfolk Broads, sparking a late-night rescue operation.

Emergency services were called to reports that a car had been driven into the water at Ferry Inn, Horning, at about 23:40 GMT on Monday. Police said three men jumped in after the car to help rescue the driver. A boat was launched by Norfolk Fire Service, with the men then put into the care of the ambulance service. The driver, a man in his 40s, was arrested after being discharged from hospital and remains in custody, a police spokeswoman said. Hemsby Lifeboat, which attended the scene alongside police, the fire service and coastguard, searched the water afterwards to check no-one else had been in the car. Related Internet Links Norfolk Constabulary

नोरफोक ब्रॉड में देर रात बचाव अभियान शुरू करते हुए एक कार के दुर्घटनाग्रस्त होने के बाद शराब पीकर गाड़ी चलाने के संदेह में एक व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Wombourne raid leads to weapons and drugs cache

Summary: Firearms, bladed weapons and drugs were found by police officers carrying out a raid at an address in Staffordshire.

The range of genuine and imitation firearms, knives and other bladed items were found at the property in The Longlands, Wombourne, on Saturday. A large amount of class A and B drugs, cash and phones were also found. A 25-year-old man from Wolverhampton has been arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply and is being questioned. A police spokesman said the force had been acting on intelligence when it had carried out the raid. Staffordshire Police is currently running a firearms surrender scheme and asked anyone with information or concerns about a weapon to get in touch.

स्टैफोर्डशायर में एक पते पर छापा मारने वाले पुलिस अधिकारियों को आग्नेयास्त्र, ब्लेड वाले हथियार और मादक पदार्थ मिले।


Preaching non-violence to Nigerian militants

Summary: A number of people have been killed in explosions in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, as the country celebrated 50 years since independence. Earlier, a militant group from the Niger Delta had threatened to target the festivities. An amnesty that came into effect in the Delta last year has reduced unrest in the region. But the BBC's Caroline Duffield saw both progress and tensions when she visited a rehabilitation camp for former militants.

Behind barbed wire in a disused military compound, close to 1,000 young men loll about under trees in the late afternoon sunshine in Obubra camp, south-eastern Nigeria. Wrestling, bellowing and swapping cigarettes, they seem oblivious to the gaze of watchtowers and heavily armed soldiers. A matter of months ago, all were members of rival gangs, fighting Nigeria's military and killing one another in the creeks of the Niger Delta. They now eat, wash and sleep alongside one another in cramped dormitories. ''We have cases here of those who have killed another's families, someone who has killed the other's father,'' says Allen Onyema, of the Foundation for the Ethnic Harmony of Nigeria, which runs the camp. ''But what we are teaching them all is that violence is bankrupt," he told the BBC. 'Say sorry' Last year, tens of thousands of militants dumped their guns as part of an official amnesty - an attempt by Nigeria's government to stabilise oil production and end rampant kidnapping by militant groups. The process purchased a fragile calm in the Delta, although many experts dismiss it as a merely temporary lull in the violence. But inside the camp, the young men cherish hopes of a better future, and hold their trainers, who include visiting US academics, in awe. "I feel like shedding tears," says Nathaniel Dokubo. "I think about the blood that was shed, the innocent chief who was kidnapped and killed." Mr Dokubo joined others from his village to fight when his chief was murdered in a dispute between rival communities. "Those of them we fought, those of them we killed, those of them who we made their families helpless and homeless - I want to say sorry," he says. Capt Charles Alphin, a non-violence expert leading a team of specialists from the US, is trying to persuade the former militants that it is wrong to take up arms. "We expose them to Martin Luther King's writings and teaching on their very first night. We capture their hearts," he said. A former activist in the US civil rights movement, Capt Alphin and his team expose the youths to classroom discussions, lectures and role plays. For many, it is their first time in a classroom. "Within in a couple of days, we see a tremendous change," he says. "At first, we see a young man full of fear. They think it's another trick, they're used to being tricked. "But they listen. What we've found is that Dr King's teachings are global and universal." Broken promises? Critics of the amnesty process argue that the training is all too brief - two weeks in all - and the class sizes too large to really work. As many as 2,000 young men are trained over the two-week period, after which they return home. Their next step is supposed to be going to skill acquisition centres to learn trades such as welding and car mechanics. But those centres promised by the government have not yet appeared. And some critics question the logic of teaching Martin Luther King's philosophy to these ex-militants without the context of the Delta's intertwined problems of corruption, environmental degradation, and lack of development. Over a three-day visit to the camp, it was clear that anxiety over the future bubbles beneath the surface. Heart Bernard, a young veteran calling himself Commander Zero - and others - say they are not receiving small financial benefits they were promised. ''I was a ruffian," he says, warning that he cannot completely change. "I cannot go back from what I have learned. "But we are angry. We want the government to do what they promised. "They are passing our money through our leaders. But our leaders are not delivering what was promised to us," he insists, furiously. Another young man agrees, refusing to give his name. "I want to change, but I need a living," he says. "If Nigeria cannot take care of us, we will go back to our bad lives again." ''These teenagers have a crucial role,'' says Mr Onyema, pointing out that what the young men have learned is a first step. ''This 20,000 could form the critical mass that we badly need. The next 50 years could be very different for Nigeria.

नाइजीरिया की राजधानी अबुजा में हुए विस्फोटों में कई लोग मारे गए हैं, क्योंकि देश ने स्वतंत्रता के 50 साल पूरे होने का जश्न मनाया है। इससे पहले, नाइजर डेल्टा के एक आतंकवादी समूह ने उत्सवों को निशाना बनाने की धमकी दी थी। पिछले साल डेल्टा में लागू हुई माफी ने क्षेत्र में अशांति को कम कर दिया है। लेकिन बीबीसी की कैरोलिन डफफील्ड ने पूर्व आतंकवादियों के पुनर्वास शिविर का दौरा करते समय प्रगति और तनाव दोनों को देखा।


No child witnesses in court at boy's cemetery death inquiry

Summary: Friends of an eight-year-old boy who was killed by a falling gravestone will not have to come to court to give evidence at a fatal accident inquiry.

Ciaran Williamson was playing in Glasgow's Craigton Cemetery when the stone fell on him on 26 May 2015. A preliminary hearing was told there were recorded interviews with the children who were with Ciaran. Transcripts of these will be presented to the inquiry, which is due to start at Glasgow Sheriff Court in November. A final preliminary hearing was set for next month before the inquiry is due to start.

गिरते हुए पत्थर से मारे गए आठ साल के लड़के के दोस्तों को घातक दुर्घटना की जांच में सबूत देने के लिए अदालत में नहीं आना होगा।


ss Great Britain given £117k to restore Brunel's drawing office

Summary: The ss Great Britain Trust has been awarded more than £117,000 to restore the office where plans for the iron-hulled ship were drawn up.

The ocean liner was built by engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and launched in 1843. It was brought over from the Falkland Islands and returned to Bristol in 1970 where it has since been fully restored. The money will allow the Grade II* listed office to be used as part of a new museum about Brunel's legacy. The plan is for the drawing office to sit inside an authentically restored dockyard setting which is due to open to the public in 2016.

एसएस ग्रेट ब्रिटेन ट्रस्ट को उस कार्यालय को बहाल करने के लिए 117,000 पाउंड से अधिक का पुरस्कार दिया गया है जहां लोहे से भरे जहाज की योजना तैयार की गई थी।


An 'unhappy marriage' that has saved thousands of lives

Summary: Arranged marriages can often throw up surprises. Uma Preman's unhappy marriage transformed not only her life, but also the lives of thousands of others - because it left her with the skills and motivation to help disadvantaged Indians gain access to medical treatment.

By Vikas PandeyBBC News, Guruvayur The moment Uma always dreamed of a perfect wedding in a traditional south Indian temple. She imagined it decorated throughout with colourful flowers - and a big party by the beach. But it never happened. Uma still remembers the grey February morning 30 years ago when her mother introduced her to Preman Thaikad. Uma was only 19, and Preman was 26 years older. They had never met before, but she was told he was her husband. There were no festivities and no music - in fact there wasn't even a wedding. "My mother told me that I was now Preman's property. He told me that I was his wife but I had no rights over his property," says Uma. Preman took her to his house and left her there for the night. She still remembers that she couldn't sleep and just stared at the pale yellow ceiling and the rickety fan. The next morning, Preman returned at 6am and asked her to accompany him to a bar. He kept drinking for several hours while she sat in silence, trying to figure out the strange direction her life had taken. He told her that she was his second wife, but she quickly learned that she was actually his fourth. He also revealed that he had a severe form of tuberculosis - and that her main job was to be his carer. Before Uma grew up in Coimbatore, a busy town in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As a child, she wanted to become a doctor like her father, TK Balakrishnan. Balakrishnan had studied medicine for a year before his uncle asked him to drop out and work on his farm. He had learned the basics and would use his knowledge to dress wounds, change dressings and treat fevers with basic medicines. Uma heard that the families of the patients would often give him treats - so she began to accompany him on his rounds. "I just loved food and eating and that's why I went with him," she says. But one day she saw something that made her realise how serious her father's work was. Her father was treating a patient with gangrene. The stench, Uma says, was unbearable. "He was using gardening gloves because he didn't have surgical ones, but he was so calm." Find out more But Uma's mother hated the fact that her husband was spending most of his time helping others, Uma says. When she was eight, her mother gave her some money to buy firecrackers for the Hindu festival of Diwali - and when she came back, her mother was gone. "I found out later that she loved another man and she left with him," Uma says. Suddenly it was up to Uma to take care of her three-year-old brother. She says she didn't know how to cook, but she decided to learn because she couldn't bear the food her father made for them. "I went to nearby homes and requested the ladies to teach me. They said I wouldn't be able to cook because I was small," Uma says. But within days they had taught her to make a variety of dishes, and cooking became part of her daily routine. "I would wake up at 5am to make breakfast and lunch. Then I would go to school at 9am. I would come back in the evening and take care of my brother and cook dinner," Uma says. "My friends played every evening - they were enjoying their life. But I was happy taking care of my family." She kept thinking about her mother though, and worrying that she might never see her again. Years later, when Uma was 17, she went with some neighbours to visit a famous temple in Guruvayur - 87 miles from Coimbatore - and there she met a man who told her he'd seen a woman who looked exactly like her. Uma left her address with him and a few days later a letter arrived in the post. It was from her mother. Uma rushed back to Guruvayur to be reunited with her, but it quickly became clear there was a problem. Her second husband had borrowed large sums of money, then abandoned her - and the lenders were demanding payment. "I would see people coming to her house every day to harass her for money," Uma says. "It was painful to see." Her mother's solution was for her to marry Preman, who was wealthy enough to clear her debts. Uma was reluctant. She tried to get work instead, but failed. Then she returned to her father - but he felt betrayed by her decision to resume contact with her mother, and turned his back on her. Eventually, Uma gave in. "I felt worthless. I just accepted my fate and went with Preman." After "Every day before he left for work, Preman would lock me inside the house," Uma remembers. "I wasn't allowed to meet anybody or to go out - not even for a minute. For six months, I was alone. I started talking to walls. I lost my confidence and self-respect." As the years passed, Preman's tuberculosis worsened. The couple started spending most of their time in hospitals, and in 1997, seven years after Uma had moved in with him, Preman died. Although he had once said she would have no right over his property, he left her comfortably off. Uma says she felt free for the first time in her life. "I didn't want him to die, but I couldn't help but feel that life had given me a second chance." It took a while for it to become clear what she would do with this new freedom. During her years with Preman, Uma had observed that poor people were often unable to get proper medical treatment, not only because they couldn't afford it but also because they didn't have the right information - they didn't know what treatments and facilities were available. So Uma had started helping them, filling in forms for them, guiding them to the right doctors and sometimes just listening to their problems. When she left the hospital in Trivandrum where Preman had spent the last six months of his life, she was missed. But she wasn't completely beyond reach. There was a booth where she had often called Preman's family, she says, and the person who owned it gave her number to people in need of help. Soon hundreds of people started calling for advice and that's how the Santhi Medical Information Centre was born. Uma had found her life's calling - she wasn't treating people, as her father had done, but she was helping them get treatment. However, to help other people Uma had to acquire knowledge herself, and in the late 1990s the internet wasn't yet widely available in India. She had to travel across the country to collect data about treatments, hospitals and the places where people could get free or subsidised treatment. "I had to travel because no hospital replied to my letters," she says. Even when she met people face to face, they often didn't take her seriously. In other Indian states there was also a language barrier, as Uma spoke only Tamil. In the past decade, the Santhi Centre's top priority has been helping people with kidney disease. There are not enough dialysis centres in the country and the rate of kidney donation is poor. Uma has been working to change this, raising funds for new facilities open to all. "Our first dialysis centre started in Thrissur district in Kerala. Now we have 20 centres across India. Many rich people donated for the cause," she says. Uma says persuading people to donate a kidney is not easy because they often worry about the impact on their own health. So she decided to set an example, and donated one of her own kidneys. She gave it to an orphan whose kidneys had failed. Salil says he owes his life to her. "I was 26 when I was undergoing dialysis. When she met me, she told me that she would donate her kidney on the condition that I continued to work after the transplant." He did continue to work - in fact, after a while he went to work for Uma. Salil says Uma is a woman who truly believes in Mahatma Gandhi's words that "you have to be the change you want to see". "Everyone wants to change the world but no-one is ready to change themselves," Uma says. "I changed my attitude and I donated one kidney, but I also got a brother in return." All pictures by Sivaram V

व्यवस्थित शादियाँ अक्सर आश्चर्य पैदा कर सकती हैं। उमा प्रेमान की दुखी शादी ने न केवल उनके जीवन को बदल दिया, बल्कि हजारों अन्य लोगों के जीवन को भी बदल दिया-क्योंकि इसने उन्हें वंचित भारतीयों को चिकित्सा उपचार तक पहुँच प्राप्त करने में मदद करने के लिए कौशल और प्रेरणा के साथ छोड़ दिया।


Bali panacea for Asean?

Summary: Bali is known as a peaceful paradise - a calm, serene island of the gods nestled in the Indonesian archipelago. But discussions amongst leaders of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) this week are likely to be anything but peaceful or calm.

By Karishma VaswaniBBC News, Bali Asean has a lot on its plate during this summit - it has to decide whether or not to give Burma the chairmanship of the grouping in 2014, firm up its ambitious plans of turning into a united economic community by 2015, and ease tensions between member states and China over the heated issue of the South China Sea. This Asean meeting is being seen as one of the most critical ever, as it comes at a time of global economic uncertainty. Ministers in the group have said it is now more urgent than ever for it to work towards a single economic community by 2015. The plan is for Asean to turn itself into a eurozone-like entity - with no barriers to trade, a common visa system - and possibly even a single currency. But there are concerns about how this will actually work - given how near the deadline is, and how disparate a group Asean is in terms of economic development. Adjustments needed The association's secretary general Surin Pitsuwan acknowledges it will be a tough task. "We have to try to bridge the distances between us," he said. "The member states that are coming behind the rest are also making their own adjustments in order to benefit from the synergy of the other member states. "But the difference is not only in the level of income, it is in the infrastructure, the way we manage our national economies - a lot of adjustments need to be made. " It is not just on the economic front that adjustments will need to be made within the group. As Asean eyes its deadline of turning into a single economic block by 2015, it is also searching for international credibility for all members of its group - and that means having to deal with the often thorny issue of Burma, one of the most isolated and autocratic nations in the world. It has consistently been a source of embarrassment for Asean. Burma has lobbied hard for the Asean chair in 2014 - it wants the international recognition and investment that comes with it. In recent months rare signs have emerged, hinting at the possibility of change in the isolated country. Restrictions on foreign media websites have been relaxed, some political prisoners have been released, and a controversial Chinese funded dam project has been suspended. Even the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has given cautious backing to the process of reform that appears to be under way in Burma. Analysts say Burma will almost certainly get the Asean chairmanship in 2014. This is a move that Western nations who have placed sanctions on Burma are unlikely to applaud. Diplomats say the West still needs further proof that Burma has really changed. It will want to see the release of more political prisoners, full dialogue with opposition parties. The West will also want assurances that there will be an end to the ethnic conflicts that have plague Burma for decades. While the decision whether or not to award Burma will likely dominate the agenda on the first day of the Asean summit, the conversation will almost certainly turn to issues of maritime security once the US and China arrive for the East Asia Summit. 'Red-hot issue' The US has been very clear about its new goal in this part of the world. In a recent speech the US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton talked about the "strategic pivot" the US is making towards the Asia Pacific region. The move is being seen by many as the US trying to counter the influence of China in the region - in particular over the issue of the South China Sea. The South China Sea is home to potentially huge reserves of oil, and is a vital shipping lane through which billions of dollars of trade pass every year. China and Taiwan lay claim to all of the South China Sea - while Asean members the Philippines, Brunei, Vietnam and Malaysia members lay claim to parts of it. "The South China Sea is the most contentious issue that will be discussed during the meetings", says Carl Thayer of the Australian Defence Force Academy from Canberra. "It's the red-hot divisive issue. Because of China's economic influence in Asean, there's a reluctance by some nations who are not directly involved in the South China Sea issue not to take too strong a stand against mighty China." Some Asean nations that have a stake in the strategic waters, like the Philippines, have appealed to the US to step in. China has been adamant that the South China Sea should be discussed only with countries that are directly involved - and has told the US to stay out of its affairs. Tackling these tensions, and finding a way to calm and soothe the nerves of those involved, will be high on Asean's list. "No-one wants a war in the region," said Surin Pitsuwan. "We are already working towards a peaceful resolution of the issue. Imagine if Asean or the East Asia Summit didn't exist - the war of words would flare up. "As Churchill said, to jaw-jaw is better than to war-war. They talk, the exchange may be heated, but at least they stop short of shooting each other."

बाली को एक शांतिपूर्ण स्वर्ग के रूप में जाना जाता है-इंडोनेशियाई द्वीपसमूह में बसे देवताओं का एक शांत, शांत द्वीप। लेकिन इस सप्ताह एसोसिएशन ऑफ साउथ ईस्ट एशियन नेशंस (आसियान) के नेताओं के बीच चर्चा शांतिपूर्ण या शांत होने के अलावा कुछ भी होने की संभावना है।


Scottish independence: Is Cornwall more like Scotland than England?

Summary: Cornwall is about as far away from Scotland as it is possible to get by land in the UK and has a vibrant nationalist identity. But does it share more with Scotland than England? And does it have a greater interest in the Scottish referendum?

By Vanessa BarfordBBC News The well-trodden journey from Land's End to John o'Groats, the most south-westerly point of Cornwall to the north-eastern tip of mainland Scotland, has inspired many to travel the length of Britain by car, by bike and on foot. But the famous challenge - often signposted with a distance of 874 miles (1,407km) by road - is not the only thing that Scotland and Cornwall have in common. Both are geographic extremities with huge stretches of coastline. Both have Celtic roots. They have their own language, traditions, culture and a distinct history of which they are proud. And both have parties campaigning for their Celtic communities to have more political and fiscal power. Cornwall's nationalist party Mebyon Kernow does not want Cornwall to be an independent country - which is what the Scottish National Party is campaigning for in Scotland - but it does want Cornwall to be seen as its own nation, with a legislative assembly similar to the current Scottish Parliament. So how closely are people in Cornwall watching the Scottish referendum, when voters in Scotland will go to the polls on 18 September - answering the "Yes/No" question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" "Very" is the view from Dick Cole, leader of Mebyon Kernow. He believes there will be a "massive knock-on impact" for the whole debate on devolution, whatever the result. "If Scotland votes 'Yes' the whole dynamic of the UK will totally change. "If Scotland votes 'No' it will still get more powers. Wales' Assembly is gaining more powers every year, we've got a long-standing campaign in Cornwall, and England will want to get away from the overcentralised state that's focused on London and the South East," he says. "It's no co-incidence that two of the worst performing economic parts of the UK - Cornwall and Wales - are the furthest from there," he adds. It is a sentiment that resonates with Allie Watkins, who runs the Spice Merchant and World Food Specialist shop in St Austell, a town at the heart of Cornwall's china clay industry. "Westminster seems like it's on another planet. It forces smaller rural communities into tight corners financially," she says. The spice merchant, who comes from Hertfordshire but has been living in the Cornish town for 11 years, would love Cornwall to follow in Scotland's footsteps, by getting its own assembly and having a referendum on independence. Or it could join together with other Celtic communities, she suggests. She is adamant that Cornwall, much of whose historic county boundary with the rest of England is the River Tamar, has a different identity to the rest of the UK. "Most people say it's a bit like a parallel universe over the Tamar Bridge [between Plymouth, in Devon, and Saltash, Cornwall]. Once you get into Cornwall the energy changes," she says. Cornwall in numbers Population 532,300 £75bn value of economy (0.6% of UK) £22,087 average annual earnings (GB £26,551) £1.1bn average annual tourism revenue In the worst 5% of UK areas for households at risk of poverty Source: Census 2011, Cornwall Council, VisitEngland, Experian Stroll around St Austell and it is clear that you are in Cornwall. Signs are in Cornish as well as English. There are pasty shops, butchers, bakers, cafes serving cream teas and sweet shops that all advertise themselves as "Cornish". Any suggestion that the abundance of Cornish offerings is for the benefit of tourists are batted away by Lynn Hayley, who works at Barnecutt Bakery. "All the locals buy pasties. Some people eat them every day. They are more of a novelty with visitors," she says. "I'm proud to be Cornish, so are most people in Cornwall," she says. The feeling that people in Cornwall have a separate identity is not uncommon. In the 2011 census, 73,200 people out of a population of 530,000 specified that they had a Cornish national identity even though there was not a Cornish tick-box category, according to Cornwall Council. But does this recognition of a Cornish identity translate to politics - or a desire for Cornish people to have more control over Cornish affairs? Mebyon Kernow argues that it does. The party presented Downing Street with a petition of 50,000 signatures calling for a Cornish assembly in 2001 but it did not come to anything. This year Cornish people were given minority status - the same protections as the Welsh, Scottish and Irish - under European rules. And moves to revive and promote the Cornish language, which experts say is spoken fluently by about 300 people, were also given a recent, albeit moderate, boost of £120,000 government funding. But beneath the black-and-white St Piran's flags, which fly alongside the union jacks on the High Street in St Austell, 67-year-old Eve Brewer, who has lived in the town for 40 years, is not so sure. She agrees that most people in Cornwall are proud to be Cornish. But that does not mean they do not want to be British. "Life is different down here, but we're still British. I don't think Cornwall should have devolved powers or be an independent country," she says. Dominic Bateman, 18, from Bodmin, agrees. "I feel more English than Cornish. Cornwall can be a bit slow, I don't think it could stand on its own two feet." But Jake Moffatt, also 18, who grew up in St Austell, says that although he calls himself British, he would like to refer to himself as Cornish one day. "If people are defined as Scottish, Welsh or Cornish, I think it makes people more unique." Mr Cole concedes that Cornish identity is a hard thing to pin down. "There's great ambiguity. Some people are straightforward - Cornish full stop. Some don't see any contradiction in being British and Cornish. Others are Cornish, but English when supporting the World Cup. "There are 100 PhD theses to be written about identity. It's a great philosophical debate," he says. However, Louis Colwill, 82, who is a volunteer at the Old Cornwall Society and has lived in Cornwall most of his life, has an answer. "You only have to go to a local concert and people will sing the Cornish anthem, Trelawny, which shows the togetherness of Cornish people. "But I spent 27 years travelling the world with the Royal Navy, and although I'm very proud of St Austell and Cornwall, and I love our history, we mustn't be blinkered. Like everywhere, things are changing and becoming more multicultural. I like to say I'm cosmopolitan," he says. He says that he - like many others in Cornwall - is "very much" keeping an eye on Scotland. Key words in Cornish Dydh da Hello Dyw genes Goodbye Fatla genes? How are you? Yn poynt da (meur rasta) Very well (thank you) Yeghes da! Cheers/Good health!

कॉर्नवाल स्कॉटलैंड से लगभग उतना ही दूर है जितना कि यू. के. में भूमि मार्ग से प्राप्त करना संभव है और इसकी एक जीवंत राष्ट्रवादी पहचान है। लेकिन क्या यह इंग्लैंड की तुलना में स्कॉटलैंड के साथ अधिक साझा करता है? और क्या स्कॉटिश जनमत संग्रह में इसकी अधिक रुचि है?


Blockchain and benefits - a dangerous mix?

Summary: The government has quietly launched a bold experiment using the technology behind the virtual currency Bitcoin - and, if anybody notices, it could prove hugely controversial. That is because the trial involves the payment of benefits and could conceivably involve very sensitive data being made public - or at least that's the concern of some critics.

Rory Cellan-JonesTechnology correspondent@BBCRoryCJon Twitter There is a huge amount of excitement around now about the Blockchain, with endless academic studies and a good deal of investment reinforcing the belief that a permanent ever-expanding and tamper-proof online ledger of transactions must have all sorts of wider applications. Earlier this year the government's chief scientific advisor Mark Walport wrote a report on blockchain - or distributed ledger technology - which was enthusiastic about its potential to produce "disruptive innovations that could transform the delivery of public and private services and enhance productivity through a wide range of applications." He recommended that the government should back trials of the technology while also looking carefully at the security and privacy implications of using it. Now, the first real trial is underway, revealed without any fanfare by the welfare minister Lord Freud at a conference last week. The Department of Work and Pensions tell me it began in May, will run for up to six months, and is designed to look at how the technology might help benefit claimants manage their money. Up to 24 welfare claimants will use an app provided by a company called Govcoin to track their spending. But this news sounded alarm bells amongst some of those who have been involved in framing the government's technology policies. Their concern is that the payment of benefits is not the right place to start this journey of blockchain exploration. One recently departed member of the Government Digital Service told me of his amazement that this trial was being allowed to go ahead. His most serious concern was about the privacy implications of putting highly sensitive personal data on a shared ledger "which, by technical design, can never be changed or deleted even if it's inaccurate". He also has a theory that the trial - though billed as a way for claimants to manage their money better - could also be "a potentially efficient way for DWP to restrict, audit and control exactly what each benefits payment is actually spent on, without the government being perceived as a big brother". He sees the possibility that in the future the government could then use the technology to force people to spend benefits on certain things - to make sure, for instance that pensioners spent their winter fuel allowance on their energy bills. "[That would be a] highly political idea. To hide it behind hyped up blockchain technobabble is not on," he said. It seems there is also concern in Whitehall about the process by which this trial came to be approved. The chief scientific advisor had wanted a Cabinet Office committee to vet all the various blockchain ideas coming out of different government departments. It seems that committee has yet to be formed, but another insider has indicated to me that if it had been, the DWP trial would have been quite far down the list for approval. I put these criticisms to the Department for Work and Pensions. I was told that any data involved in the trial would be handled by the private company running it and personal information would be removed before it reached the department. "There are no plans to replace any DWP payment systems," a spokesman said. "This trial is designed to explore how distributed ledger technology could help support financial inclusion and offer budgeting help, and it does not place any restrictions or limits on what a claimant can spend their welfare payments on, nor tracks how they spend them." There is plenty of enthusiasm for the potential of blockchain to deliver improvements to public services - albeit some time in the quite distant future. But the worry now is that if the first trials go down the wrong path, then public trust in the technology could be irredeemably damaged.

सरकार ने चुपचाप आभासी मुद्रा बिटक्वाइन के पीछे की तकनीक का उपयोग करते हुए एक साहसिक प्रयोग शुरू किया है-और, अगर कोई नोटिस करता है, तो यह बेहद विवादास्पद साबित हो सकता है। ऐसा इसलिए है क्योंकि परीक्षण में लाभों का भुगतान शामिल है और इसमें बहुत संवेदनशील डेटा को सार्वजनिक किया जा सकता है-या कम से कम कुछ आलोचकों की चिंता यही है।


Terror arrest Cyncoed man rearrested under Explosives Act

Summary: A man arrested under the Terrorism Act has now been rearrested under different legislation.

The 20-year-old man, who was arrested in Cyncoed, Cardiff, on Sunday morning will now no longer face further action under the terrorism laws, South Wales Police said. However, he was subsequently arrested under the Explosive Substances Act and the Misuse of Drugs Act. The force said he has been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

आतंकवाद अधिनियम के तहत गिरफ्तार एक व्यक्ति को अब अलग-अलग कानूनों के तहत फिर से गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Man denies Bridlington car crash attempted murder

Summary: A 25-year-old man has denied attempted murder after a car crash in East Yorkshire.

A woman suffered serious injuries in the crash on the A165 Bessingby Hill near Bridlington in the early hours of 27 August. Fraser Kaye, from St Margaret's Road in Doncaster, appeared at Sheffield Crown Court earlier and was remanded in custody. He is scheduled to stand trial at a court yet to be decided on 28 January. More news and stories from across Yorkshire Related Internet Links HM Courts & Tribunals Service

ईस्ट यॉर्कशायर में एक कार दुर्घटना के बाद एक 25 वर्षीय व्यक्ति ने हत्या के प्रयास से इनकार किया है।