Religion, power and politics in Indonesia

Summary: A former minister has won the race for Jakarta governor after a divisive campaign that has tested Indonesia's multi-faith society. As BBC Indonesian's Rebecca Henschke in Jakarta reports, it's being viewed as a win for sectarian politics.

Although official results are not out until May, early counts were enough for Anies Baswedan, a Muslim, to give a victory speech as Jakarta's governor-elect. He then headed to the largest mosque in Indonesia to pray alongside the leader of the controversial vigilante group, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI). His opponent Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known widely as Ahok, and a Christian of Chinese descent, is back in court today to face trial for blasphemy. During the campaign Anies Baswedan met a number of times with FPI - the group leading the mass protest movement calling for Mr Purnama to be jailed for allegedly insulting Islam. The group's leader Rizieq Shihab, has been jailed twice before for inciting violence. He told his followers to vote only for a Muslim and mosques connected to his group threatened to refuse funerals to families who didn't obey. Until now the group's main activities have been raids on those it believes are committing "sin and vice" - prostitutes, alcohol sellers and people selling food during fasting hours in the holy month of Ramadan - but in leading the calls for Mr Purnama to be jailed, the group has raised its political profile and increased its support base. "The main reason people voted for Anies is because he was from the same faith as them, he was viewed as fighting for Islam," says political scientist Dr Hamdi Muluk from the University of Indonesia. "People voted for Ahok because of his track record, his image as a clean politician who was not corrupt and that he was a firm leader." Despite having the world's largest Muslim majority, Indonesia respects six official religions. And its national motto: "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" means unity in diversity. Anies Baswedan is a respected academic and a former university rector, who studied in the US under a Fulbright scholarship, and before the campaign he was widely known to be a moderate Muslim. In his victory speech, he insisted that he is committed to diversity and unity. "We aim to make Jakarta the most religiously harmonious province in Indonesia," he said. But many analysts believe that could be difficult given the groups that he has aligned himself with during this campaign. "It was a dirty campaign, it's a campaign based on religion," says Andreas Harsono, a researcher with Human Rights Watch. "It has hurt many people particularly the minority groups. It's bad news for religious tolerance in Indonesia. He has made many promises to these hardline groups about enforcing so-called Islamic codes of social behaviour in Jakarta." New Jakarta? During the campaign Anies Baswedan and his running mate Sandiaga Uno talked about creating Islamic-friendly nightlife, inspired by Dubai, to replace the current scene that they say involves too many drugs and prostitution. But allaying fears that had been voiced during the bitter campaign Sandiaga Uno told the BBC that they will not enforce elements of Sharia law across Jakarta. "I believe in the Islamic economic system but we will not enforce Islamic law across Jakarta. That is not something we can do." While a divided Jakarta tries to come to terms with the results, Mr Purnama is back in court on Thursday fighting to stay out of jail. He is on trial for insulting Islam when he questioned a Koranic verse that has been used by some conservative clerics in this election to mean Muslims shouldn't vote for a Christian. Over the last 12 years in Indonesia no one charged with blasphemy has been acquitted and Mr Harsono thinks Mr Purnama will also be jailed. "This will be a very bad message that the blasphemy law can be easily politicised and easily manipulated in order to send your enemies, anyone you don't like, to prison." Mr Purnama was widely accepted, even by his critics, to be one of the most effective administrators this sprawling mega-city has ever had. And before the blasphemy charges he was predicted to win the election by a landslide. When asked what he has learnt from the campaign he laughed and said: "Watch what you say and don't get angry in public." He also told his supporters not to worry too much and referred also to God. "Power is something that God gives and takes away," he said. "No one can achieve it without God's will. So no one should dwell too much on it. Don't be sad. God always knows best." But his supporters took to social media to express their disappointment. "The lessons of popularism are stark: too much power in the hands of ignorance." Another said: "We have fallen in love with a governor we can't have." One Twitter user, @fuadhn, said Indonesians "can feel what US and British citizens feel now. Welcome populism..."

इंडोनेशिया के बहु-विश्वास समाज की परीक्षा लेने वाले विभाजनकारी अभियान के बाद एक पूर्व मंत्री ने जकार्ता के राज्यपाल की दौड़ जीत ली है। जैसा कि जकार्ता में बीबीसी इंडोनेशियाई की रेबेका हेंस्के ने बताया, इसे सांप्रदायिक राजनीति की जीत के रूप में देखा जा रहा है।


Operation Condor: Landmark human rights trial reaches finale

Summary: The final verdict in a historic human rights trial is expected in Argentina later on Friday. Operation Condor was a campaign of state-sponsored terror organised by South American dictatorships in the 1970s. The US-backed regimes conspired to hunt down, kidnap and kill political opponents across South America and beyond. Irene Caselli reports.

Sara Mendez escaped her native Uruguay in 1973 following the 27 June military coup. A left-wing teacher, she was considered a dangerous enemy by the newly installed regime. She sought refuge in neighbouring Argentina, the only country in the southern area of South America that was not under military rule. She became active in the Party for the Victory of the People (PVP), founded in 1975 by Uruguayan exiles in Buenos Aires. But when a military coup took place in Argentina on 24 March 1976, her new home became a trap. On 13 July of that year, a joint commando unit of the Uruguayan and Argentine military kidnapped her and took her to an illegal detention centre. During the operation, the commandos took her baby boy, Simon, who was only 20 days old. "They told me not to worry, that this war was not against children, that Simon would be safe," she recalls. Simon was handed over to the family of a policeman. It took 26 years for him to find out about his real identity and for the two to be reunited. Mendez was taken to an old car workshop in southern Buenos Aires, Automotores Orletti, which had been turned into an illegal detention centre and the operating base for Operation Condor. "The cold was terrible but the screams were worse," remembers Mendez. "The screams of those who were being tortured were the first thing you heard and they made you shiver. That's why there was a radio blasting day and night." At Orletti, the Argentine and Uruguayan military tortured some 200 people, many of whom were exiles, like Mendez. "They took you upstairs and that's where the questioning and the torture started. I think I screamed. I realised it was a sign of life, it was impossible to hold it back. And if you screamed, the others knew that you were alive," she says. During the 1970s and 1980s, South American dictatorships came together to systematically eliminate leftist opponents. Their plan was unprecedented. It brought together the military of neighbouring nations that had previously been at war with each other in order to fight a new common enemy - the spread of Marxist ideology throughout the region. Operation Condor was born in 1975 at a meeting of intelligence chiefs from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay. It later came to include Brazil, and - in a more peripheral role - Ecuador and Peru. Manuel Contreras, head of Chile's feared secret police, signed the minutes of the meeting, which were later unearthed. It was named after the largest vulture in South America. "In trials that handle crimes against humanity there are usually few documents and they are mainly based on testimonies of survivors and families of victims," says Pablo Ouvina, the chief prosecutor in charge of the trial in Buenos Aires that has specifically focused on Operation Condor. "In this trial there is an overwhelming quantity of documents." Declassified documents from the United States, as well as documentation from remaining South American archives, helped the prosecutor's office put together a complicated puzzle. "We're not talking about what happened in one detention centre or in one location in Argentina. We're talking about what happened in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil," says Ouvina. Among the 18 defendants, who face charges of kidnapping, torture and forced disappearance, is Argentina's last dictator, Reynaldo Bignone. Since the trial started in 2013, five defendants, including Jorge Rafael Videla, the head of Argentina's junta for the first three years, have died. "This is a milestone in human rights. Unlike in the past, where we had international courts, what we have here is a domestic court in Argentina which is prosecuting transnational crimes that were committed in an organised fashion by six states in Latin America," says Francesca Lessa, postdoctoral researcher at Oxford University, who has been following the trial. For Mendez and other Uruguayans, Friday's sentence is especially symbolic because courts in their home country have never tried the ex-military for torture. Among the 18 defendants, there is also a former Uruguayan colonel, Manuel Cordero, who allegedly tortured prisoners inside Automotores Orletti. "We want justice to be made in Uruguay too, because these were joint operations and there were Uruguayan officials that worked here too," says Mendez. "Justice is necessary. What can we do with the truth only, if there is no space for justice?"

अर्जेंटीना में शुक्रवार को एक ऐतिहासिक मानवाधिकार मुकदमे में अंतिम फैसला आने की उम्मीद है। ऑपरेशन कोंडोर 1970 के दशक में दक्षिण अमेरिकी तानाशाहों द्वारा आयोजित राज्य प्रायोजित आतंक का एक अभियान था। अमेरिका समर्थित शासनों ने दक्षिण अमेरिका और उसके बाहर राजनीतिक विरोधियों का शिकार करने, अपहरण करने और उन्हें मारने की साजिश रची। आइरीन कैसेली की रिपोर्ट।


The Night Watch: Will Gompertz reviews the Rijksmuseum's high tech photo ★★★★★

Summary: At 9am on Tuesday the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam posted an image of Rembrandt's The Night Watch (1642) on its website. Nothing particularly unusual about that, you might think. After all, the museum frequently uploads pictures of its masterpieces from Dutch Golden Age. But there was something about this particular photo that made it stand out just like the little girl in a gold dress in Rembrandt's famous group portrait of local civic guardsmen.

Will GompertzArts editor@WillGompertzBBCon Twitter The web image presents the painting unframed on a dark grey background. It looks sharp and well-lit but not exceptional in terms of photography. Until, that is, you click on it, at which point you're zoomed in a bit closer. Click again and you're propelled towards the outstretched hand of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq. Another click, and you're face-to-face with the leader of this group of not-so-merry-men. Once more, and you can see the glint in his eye and the texture of his ginger beard. At no point does the image start to pixelate or distort, it's pin-sharp throughout. And it remains so as you continue to click, getting further and further into the painting until the Captain's paint-cracked eyeball is the size of a fist, and you realise that tiny glint you first saw isn't the result of one dab of Rembrandt's brush, but four separate applications, each loaded with a slightly different shade of paint. And then you stop and think: Crikey, Rembrandt actually used four different colours to paint a minuscule light effect in the eye of one of the many life-sized protagonists featured in this group portrait, which probably wouldn't be seen by anybody anyway. Or, maybe, this visionary 17th Century Dutchman foresaw a future where the early experiments with camera obscura techniques, in which he might have dabbled, would eventually lead to a photographic technology capable of recording a visual representation of his giant canvas to a level of detail beyond the eyesight of even the artist himself! It is, quite frankly, amazing. For instance, I've always liked the ghostly dog that turns and snarls at the drummer situated at the edge of the painting. I'd assumed the hound was unfinished and therefore unloved by Rembrandt, but now I can see by zooming in that the artist not only gave the dog a stylish collar, but also added a gold pendant with a tiny flash of red paint to echo the colour of the trousers worn by the drummer. Clearly, Rembrandt was pro-dogs. As always there is artifice behind the art, as you will see within moments of zooming into The Night Watch. It quickly becomes apparent that Rembrandt first created his wonderfully dynamic composition, and then fine-tuned it as he went along. You will spot lots of small shadowy corrections (pentimenti) he made, such as the top of the drummer's stick on the far right, or on the index finger of the Ensign holding the Troop's flag aloft. There is artifice in the photograph, too. It is not a single image as it appears, but a composite of 528 individual digital photographs that have been seamlessly stitched together to give us a completely new view of one the most famous paintings in western art. Let's zoom out for a moment. Rembrandt signed, dated and called his painting: Officers and Men of the Amsterdam Kloveniers Militia, the Company of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq. It was a commissioned portrait by the Kloveniers Militia (a sort of Dad's Army of locals) to hang in their HQ. Those featured (probably 18 members originally) each paid to be included. Capt Cocq takes centre stage, with his trusty Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch to his side. The men gathered behind them are carrying an assortment of weapons with which to defend their neighbourhood. Muskets (Klover) were their speciality, a point Rembrandt illustrates with a surreal sequence running left to right across the picture featuring three musketeers. The first, dressed in red with white collar and cuffs, is loading his musket with gunpowder. The second, a young boy, partially obscured by Cocq's right arm, fires his gun, ruffling the feathers of Ruytenburch's hat but not the man himself, who one has to assume is stone deaf. And then, there's the third, an older man also dressed in red, blowing away the spent powder from the fired gun. The young girl in the gold dress is not a member of the militia, but is there as their shining symbolic mascot. The upturned feet of the dead chicken hanging from her belt represent the Kloveniers' golden claw emblem. The painting initially hung with several other huge group portraits, giving visitors to the troops' inner sanctum the sense of being surrounded by local muscle. It was subsequently moved in 1715 to the Town Hall on the Dam (now the Royal Palace), where it was trimmed on all four sides to fit between the doors. It was first called The Night Watch in 1897, when the varnish applied to protect the paint had become so old and stained the picture looked like a nocturnal scene. That layer of varnish was removed long ago in one of the 25 or more restorations and treatments The Night Watch has undergone over the years. The most memorable being in 1975 after a visitor to the museum attacked the painting with a knife, causing severe damage, traces of which you can see when you zoom in on the new composite photograph: An act of art historical sleuthing which is the digital photo's primary purpose. The 44.8 Gigapixel image was created for the Rijksmuseum's conservation department, which is currently embarked upon the most exhaustive facelift The Night Watch has probably ever endured. It enables the team of 12 to look right into the picture without using microscopes, in order to see what work needs to be done. A huge amount is the answer. Zoom in and you'll detect plenty of cracked paint, which is to be expected. But zero in on the Captain's and Lieutenant's faces and you will notice they're covered in blackheads. That's not because they didn't know one end of a bath from the other - they were sophisticated chaps - it is probably down to aging white paint particles, the tops of which have broken off to reveal a dark inner. There are thousands of these pinprick blemishes, all of which conservators should be able to reverse, bringing an even greater liveliness to an already lively painting. The Night Watch is an incredible work of art. Soon, you will be able to stand in front of it once again when the Rijksmuseum re-opens on the 1 June (caveat: there will be vastly reduced number of admissions, and The Night Watch is currently encased in a glass box - still visible but not as approachable). And if and when you do see it for real, you will immediately notice Rembrandt's exaggerated use of light and shade to create a sense of drama, aided and abetted by an all-action composition emphasised by teaming diagonal lines. The Night Watch is as close to theatre as a painting can get. As the director of the Rijksmuseum said, it is a school photo taken before everybody is lined up in order (it shows Capt. Cocq instructing Lt. Ruytenburch to bring his men to attention). It captures a moment of movement and mayhem. You can see that when in front of the canvas. But when you are not, when you're at home, you can now see the same sense of chaos in the way Rembrandt painted his masterpiece, made when he was at the peak of his fame, just at the time his beloved wife was dying and his life took a turn for the worse. The further you look into it the greater the mess appears to be. Splodges of impasto paint here, unfinished transitions there. It's a mixture of early Rembrandt tautness and late Rembrandt looseness. If you thought Van Gogh or Jackson Pollock invented expressionistic painting, you'll think again when you've zoomed into The Night Watch. It is a sight to behold. A magnificent sight, which extends our knowledge of a truly great work of art, whether you're an old timer or a first timer. New technology is often used to try to jazz up old art, which is generally a bad idea. But, the Rijksmuseum is using technology to increase our understanding and appreciation of a Golden Age great, and that is a good idea. As you can see. Recent reviews by Will Gompertz Follow Will Gompertz on Twitter

मंगलवार को सुबह 9 बजे एम्स्टर्डम के रिज्क्सम्यूजियम ने अपनी वेबसाइट पर रेम्ब्रांट की द नाइट वॉच (1642) की एक तस्वीर पोस्ट की। आप सोच सकते हैं कि इसमें कुछ भी असामान्य नहीं है। आखिरकार, संग्रहालय अक्सर डच स्वर्ण युग की अपनी उत्कृष्ट कृतियों की तस्वीरें अपलोड करता है। लेकिन इस विशेष तस्वीर के बारे में कुछ ऐसा था जिसने इसे रेम्ब्रांट के स्थानीय नागरिक गार्डमैन के प्रसिद्ध समूह चित्र में सोने की पोशाक में छोटी लड़की की तरह खड़ा कर दिया।


Foxconn investment falls short of Trump promise

Summary: Foxconn Technology Group's investments in the US have fallen short of promises made in 2017, when US President Donald Trump hailed the firm's promises to build a factory as a sign of America's manufacturing revival.

Politicians had said the deal could eventually generate 13,000 new jobs. But it has brought fewer than 300 jobs so far - well below initial targets, Wisconsin officials have said. Foxconn had already said it was changing its plans for the plant. Wisconsin officials identified the job numbers to date in a letter denying Foxconn tax breaks, which the state awarded to the firm, a major Apple supplier, as part of the 2017 deal. The incentives were conditional on the firm meeting certain investment and job creation goals and generated significant controversy in Wisconsin, an important state in the US electoral calculus. The move by state officials to withhold the tax breaks comes just weeks before voters in the US head to the polls to decide if Mr Trump deserves a second term as president. Mr Trump, whose campaign slogan in 2016 was "Make America Great Again", has sought to present his time in office as a boon for the US economy. But even before the economic collapse triggered by the pandemic, employment in the manufacturing sector had remained relatively flat. Democrats in Wisconsin seized on the figures as further proof of deal-making gone awry, noting that the state had spent $1bn supporting the project. "This cements Foxconn's legacy as one of broken promises, a lack of transparency and a complete failure to create jobs," said Wisconsin State Representative Gordon Hintz, a leader of Democrats in the state and a critic of the project. "Republican politicians should be held accountable."

अमेरिका में फॉक्सकॉन टेक्नोलॉजी ग्रुप का निवेश 2017 में किए गए वादों से कम हो गया है, जब अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प ने अमेरिका के विनिर्माण पुनरुद्धार के संकेत के रूप में एक कारखाना बनाने के फर्म के वादों की सराहना की थी।


Albert Einstein: the man who predicted gravitational waves

Summary: The detection of gravitational waves, announced on Thursday, proves an Albert Einstein theory right. He made huge strides forward in physics, to the point that his surname is used as another way of calling someone a genius. Yet there is plenty more to know about the man himself.

He played the violin He started learning when he was a young boy and continued playing until old age stopped his left hand from being able to move as quickly and precisely as was needed. He performed at benefit concerts and used music as a relaxation tool all his life. He was a particular fan of the works of Mozart and Bach. His teacher said he would never amount to anything Einstein and his family told the press that he was comparatively slow to learn to walk and talk. His sister Maja, writing about her famous brother, said that when Albert was a little boy at home in Germany, people around him worried that he would never speak. At school, he did not enjoy studying humanities subjects. He struggled with writing and it is widely supposed that he had dyslexia, in a time before it was routinely tested for. According to his sister, his Greek teacher once told him off for the quality of work he had submitted by saying nothing would ever become of him. He failed his university entrance exam but it was in a job as a clerk that he found time to develop his ideas. He published scientific papers, moved into an academic career, made ground-breaking strides in physics including developing the theory of general relativity, and was given the Nobel Prize in 1921. WATCH: What is the theory of general relativity? His brain was physically unusual After Einstein died, his brain was measured and weighed by scientists. Cubes of it were sent around the world in the post. The strange afterlife of Einstein's brain His brain was found to have more tightly-packed neurons than usual, which might have allowed him to process information more quickly than other people. The part of his brain responsible for spatial cognition and mathematical thought was wider than normal. But some people say this is all speculation - and it would be hard to prove any link between his physical brain and his genius. Brain size varies from person to person. A pathologist called Dr Thomas Harvey kept the brain for four decades. In one BBC documentary in 1994, he was seen cutting a piece of the brain off to give it to a visitor. Most of the remains of the brain are now in New Jersey. He was a refugee By the time the Nazis came to power, Einstein was already famous. His Jewish ethnicity was widely known and it became more and more difficult for him to work in the face of anti-Semitism in Europe. In the early 1930s, Einstein took a job in the USA. Shortly afterwards, the Third Reich accused him of treason, and his books were thrown on the fire at a ceremonial book-burning by Nazi students. Einstein helped other Jews escape from Germany but had mixed feelings about having left. He wrote in a letter: "I am almost ashamed to be living in such peace while all the rest struggle and suffer." He turned down the chance to be the second president of Israel In 1952, the Israeli ambassador to the US wrote to Einstein on the prime minister's behalf, asking whether he would take the role of president as a mark of "the deepest respect which the Jewish people can repose in any of its sons". The letter assured him that he would be given "complete facility and freedom to pursue [his] great scientific work". All the same, he turned the offer down. He replied that he was "deeply moved" but was not suited to it due to old age and his personality. He wrote: "All my life I have dealt with objective matters, hence I lack both the natural aptitude and the experience to deal properly with people and to exercise official functions." "I am the more distressed over these circumstances because my relationship to the Jewish people has become my strongest human bond, ever since I became fully aware of our precarious situation among the nations of the world." What he did and did not say There is a truism that if you can't explain something simply, you haven't understood it well enough. The line is often attributed to Einstein, but there is no historical evidence to prove that he said or wrote it, and versions of the same idea had been written down centuries before. In fact, most of the science Einstein worked on was extremely complicated. But the idea is a good one. If you are still struggling to wrap your head around gravitational waves, watch the simply-explained videos in this BBC coverage - and then see if you can explain the waves to a friend. As in the case of author Oscar Wilde - who has been wrongly credited with "Youth is wasted on the young", "Be yourself; everyone else is already taken" and other nuggets - Einstein's name attracts misattributed quotations. But the scientist did say: "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution." That was printed in a newspaper interview with him in 1929. In the 1950s, a few years before his death, Einstein complained that people were quoting him too much. He said: "In the past it never occurred to me that every casual remark of mine would be snatched up and recorded. Otherwise I would have crept further into my shell." The most famous photo of him was taken when he got tired of smiling Being famous in his own lifetime was sometimes wearying to Einstein. On his 71st birthday, he got so sick of posing for photographers that he stuck his tongue out. This became an iconic photograph, and Einstein himself ordered prints of it to send to his friends.

गुरुवार को घोषित गुरुत्वाकर्षण तरंगों का पता लगाना अल्बर्ट आइंस्टीन के सिद्धांत को सही साबित करता है। उन्होंने भौतिकी में इस हद तक बड़ी प्रगति की कि उनके उपनाम का उपयोग किसी को प्रतिभाशाली कहने के एक और तरीके के रूप में किया जाता है। फिर भी उस व्यक्ति के बारे में जानने के लिए बहुत कुछ है।


Live Saturday morning children's show to return to BBC

Summary: Live Saturday morning children's entertainment in the tradition of shows such as Going Live! and Multi-Coloured Swap Shop is to return to the BBC.

From this autumn, CBBC viewers will get to quiz pop stars on a programme given the working title of Live & Dangerous. A BBC spokeswoman said "buckets of gunge are at the ready" for the show, to be made at MediaCityUK in Salford. While the human presenters have not yet been named, CBBC's cheeky canine Hacker T Dog is expected to steal the show. Going Live! ran from 1987 until 1993. Older generations may remember Swap Shop, which was presented by Noel Edmonds, John Craven, Maggie Philbin and Keith Chegwin. It ran for seven years until 1982.

गोइंग लाइव! और मल्टी-कलर्ड स्वैप शॉप जैसे कार्यक्रमों की परंपरा में लाइव शनिवार की सुबह बच्चों का मनोरंजन बीबीसी पर लौटने वाला है।


Luxembourg's hopping heritage

Summary: Luxembourg is one of Europe's smallest countries, bordered by two of its largest - Germany and France. This may be one reason why its national character is, for many people, hard to pin down. Could a peculiar religious dance hold a clue?

By Nina LamparskiBBC News, Echternach Despite centuries of foreign domination, wars and disease, Luxembourgers have never stopped hopping - a bouncy dance to the tune of a polka, in honour of their British patron saint. For a religious ceremony, it's a surprisingly light-hearted occasion. It has also been a gesture of defiance to all those, often foreigners, who have tried to put a stop to the tradition, and in some cases threatened Luxembourg's survival as a country. Now it's Europe's largest traditional dancing procession, held on Whit Tuesday, when some 10,000 hoppers converge on the city of Echternach, along with up to 40,000 spectators. The hero of the occasion is St Willibrord, the so-called Apostle of Benelux, an Anglo-Saxon missionary from Ripon in North Yorkshire, who is credited with driving paganism out of Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany in the 8th Century. Pilgrims have been flocking to his tomb in Echternach abbey since the Middle Ages. Exactly when the hopping began is unclear, but the Catholic Church viewed it as a pagan ritual, and was the first to impose a ban. "They were suspicious because the event was created by the people for the people," says Theo Peporte, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Luxembourg. "They weren't sure if it was based on folklore or part of proper religious rites." The Luxembourgers paid no notice, and continued happily hopping until, centuries later, the Church came round to their point of view. "Eventually the Church understood that the hopping was to be taken seriously as a form of physical prayer and meditation. And today, the archbishop of Luxembourg actually leads the procession," says Peporte. The dance starts early in the morning in the courtyard of the abbey founded by Willibrord in 698 AD, and slowly moves around the town centre. From tiny toddlers to octogenarians with walking sticks, the participants are split into 45 groups containing rows of five dancers. Most are dressed in simple white tops and black skirts or trousers. Fancy dress and national dress are not allowed. "You are watching a procession, not a folklore performance, so please show restraint. No clapping, please!" warns a small notice in a brochure distributed to spectators. A marching band starts up a catchy polka tune, which is played over and over again until the procession ends a few hours later, inside the abbey's crypt. Once a multi-step affair involving backwards jumps, the modern version of the dance is quite simple - a little jump to the right, a little jump to the left, and hop you go. "You can learn that in 10 seconds," says Peporte. "What's harder is to remain synchronised with the others. That's the tricky part." The secret, he reveals, is a handkerchief. The dancers in each row hold on to a folded cloth, "which helps to connect people and ensures harmonious hopping". To the novice observer, the moving crowds seem to morph into one large bouncy mass. But the expert eye will quickly spot subtle regional differences, says Pierre Kauthen, the president of the Willibrord Society, which organises the procession. "While we Luxembourgers do a simple hop, German pilgrims swing their legs more energetically and throw them a little higher," he explains. "Belgians are more relaxed about it and take two little steps." Others followed the church in trying to ban the procession. One attempt was made by Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, and another, a couple of centuries later, by the Nazis. But in 1941, a group secretly hopped inside the abbey, despite the German prohibition. The act of defiance led to imprisonments and "that was that for the procession", says Kauthen, "but only until the war was over". The sound of retreating Nazi marching boots was still echoing through the bombed streets of Echternach, when its residents crowded into the streets in 1945. Accompanied by harmonicas and flutes, they skipped through the rubble of the basilica, which had been blown up by the Germans shortly before Luxembourg's liberation. A Franciscan monk at this year's procession recalled joining the first post-war procession as a schoolboy. "It was very gloomy and depressing on the one hand, because the whole town lay in ruins after the Battle of the Bulge," he said. "The abbey was destroyed and looked horrendous. But there was a real spirit of determination in the air, and that was definitely expressed in our hopping." In many ways, the procession is testimony to Luxembourg's national motto: "We want to remain what we are" (or "Mir welle bleiwe wat mir sin"). So much so, in fact, that the Willibrord Society fought long and hard to get the tradition protected by Unesco. In 2010, the hopping parade was finally inscribed on Unesco's list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The convention safeguards creative practices handed down from generation to generation, which communities and groups recognise as part of their cultural heritage. "It also means that the government has committed itself to enshrine the procession in its legislation," says Mr Kauthen, one of the main figures behind the Unesco campaign. "As a result, Whit Tuesdays will always have to be a bank holiday for schoolchildren, which is very important. Because if the teenagers and children don't come, neither will their parents, and that could spell the the end for the hopping." For the mayor of Luxembourg City, Xavier Bettel, the event represents an essential cornerstone of local tradition. With foreigners making up two-thirds of those living in the "melting-pot capital", he sees it as one of the only remaining features of Luxembourgish culture. "Let's be honest, this isn't just about faith and many of those attending aren't necessarily Catholic," he says. "We are a tiny country and there aren't a lot of things left that bind us as a people. We have our languages but otherwise not much else. So it's important that this survives."

लक्समबर्ग यूरोप के सबसे छोटे देशों में से एक है, जो इसके दो सबसे बड़े देशों-जर्मनी और फ्रांस से घिरा हुआ है। यह एक कारण हो सकता है कि कई लोगों के लिए इसके राष्ट्रीय चरित्र को पहचानना मुश्किल है। क्या एक विशिष्ट धार्मिक नृत्य कोई संकेत दे सकता है?


Olivia Newton-John 'in shock' over suicide in her house

Summary: A man who shot and killed himself at actress and singer Olivia Newton-John's Florida home was a contractor working on the property, police say.

The dead man was Christopher Pariseleti, 41, owner of Pariseleti Construction, police told local media. In a statement, Newton-John and her husband said they were "in shock" over the death at her home near Palm Beach. A worker was reportedly seen crying at the property after the shooting at noon on Monday at Jupiter Inlet Colony. The Australian star and her husband, John Easterling, were not at home when the incident happened, said police. Officials told ABC News the death had been classified as suicide, and there were "no suspicious circumstances".

पुलिस का कहना है कि अभिनेत्री और गायिका ओलिविया न्यूटन-जॉन के फ्लोरिडा स्थित घर पर गोली मारकर आत्महत्या करने वाला एक व्यक्ति संपत्ति पर काम करने वाला ठेकेदार था।


3D printing: A force for revolutionary change

Summary: It was Neil Gershenfeld who introduced me to the potential of additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, getting on for 10 years ago, and I got very excited about its possibilities. And now, years later, here he is, trying to dampen my enthusiasm.

Peter DayGlobal business correspondent Professor Gershenfeld has been one of the stars of Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT for a long time. I first encountered him at the famous MIT Media Lab nearly 20 years ago when he was part of a team investigating Things that Think: the wearable computer, for example. Under its founder Nicholas Negroponte, the MIT Media Lab was one of the definers of the new digital era: a world where bits and bytes take over from atoms in many familiar activities and where everything that can be digitised will be digitised. In 2002 Neil Gershenfeld spun off from the Media Lab something called The Centre for Bits and Atoms. It was inspired by MIT classes he had started in making things - physical things, not the computer software that had become such a large part of the MIT experience. The classes continue: "How to Make (Almost) Anything" and "How to Make Something that Makes (Almost) Anything". They've been wildly successful; packed with hundreds of brainbox MIT students from many disciplines anxious learn how to use advanced machines to make things for themselves. The Centre for Bits and Atoms is where I first encountered a 3D printer. They're not new: they've been around for 20 or 30 years, used by designers to make rapid prototypes of products they are developing. It's a sort of extension of Computer Aided Design which has so transformed professions such as engineering and architecture. You draw the design on a computer screen, and the data then drives a machine which spreads thin layers of plastic or metal powder on top of each other. Each layer is solidified by a sort of laser welder or sinterer; at the end of the process you blow off the unsintered powder and the object you drew on the screen is transformed into complex, intertwined three dimensional reality. 3D printing takes weeks or months off the design process, but for years it stayed as a prototype process, trying things out. Now that's changing. Better techniques and materials are turning 3D printers into manufacturing operations - so-called additive manufacturers - as opposed to the cutting and grinding and sawing that has typified engineering up to now. This is a great big step. It individualises industries which until now have been dominated by mass production. In theory, every single product can be different, made to measure, as operators learn how to make things with mixed materials on larger and larger scales. In theory, it seriously reduces the need for factories, production lines, warehouses, transport around the world from great production hubs. Many things can be printed up for digital instruction in a neighbourhood print shop, and carried home under your arm, rather than shipped in container loads around the world. Darker side In New York, I dropped in on a refurbished warehouse in Long Island City where a Dutch company called Shapeways is building a battery of 3D print machines to make things sent in by its customers -as data - over the Internet. The products—lots of jewellery and individualised smartphone cases, but it could be anything—are then shipped back to them a few days later. 3D printing for people who don't want to spend upwards of $1,000 dollars on their own machine. This is not necessarily nice. Sex toys are obvious personal 3D products. At least one American company is making headlines for printing guns and making the designs available to others. The authorities are investigating. In theory this is a very disruptive change indeed, a new industrial revolution. You might say that the development of printing ushered in the modern era 500 years ago. In the same way, the combination of the internet, broadband-powered interactivity and the 3D printer could create a new nimble industrial era of individualised, localised goods escaped from the grip of huge manufacturing companies with vast capital investments and cumbersome making and delivery processes. A great opportunity for entrepreneurs and start-up companies, these 3D printers. Turn an idea into a design, into a product almost instantly, and then reach an internet marketplace at the click of a mouse. Capitalism without capital, or without much of it. A new 3D world. 'Strange meme' At least, inspired by Neil Gershenfeld, that is what I thought. But the other month at the Centre for Bits and Atoms, he put a big shot across my bows. "Three D printing is a strange meme that is being misrepresented in the press by people who don't actually use it", he said. "You're pointing at me," I said. "You and your peers," he replied. "Ouch!" I said, with some disappointment. Neil Gershenfeld thinks that the press has got carried away with 3D printing, something which is interesting, but of limited application compared with all the things a creatively inclined person can do with the other machines. Gaze on the products a 3D printer can make and you go a bit soft in the head, he thinks, especially when (like me) you have never used one in your life. The thing is, what Neil Gershenfeld has at the Centre of Bits and Atoms is room after room of superb and expensive digitally driven machines that he hopes one day to compress into one quite small piece of kit for the home-based maker. They're the components of what he calls Fab Labs, community fabrication centres where anyone can drop in and learn to use really advanced digital machinery. Inspired by the MIT Centre for Bits and Atoms, there are now about 100 Fab Labs all over the world, including places such as Afghanistan, Belfast and Manchester. Yes, they use 3D printers, but they are well down Neil Gershenfeld's list of priorities. More useful, he says, is a computer-controlled laser cutter, a numerically-controlled milling machine for making big parts, a sign cutter, a precision milling machine and programming tools for low-cost high-speed embedded processors. So 3D printing is not—according to one of the prophets of the new personal manufacturing age—going to change the world on its own. Nevertheless, something is up. Professor Gershenfeld says that it's the suite of digital machines that in his words "blows up industry". Just as personal computing transformed the computer industry, so many manufacturing corporations are going to be shoved aside by the personalisation of fabrication, by individualised goods. Henry Ford's production lines have been the overwhelming model for manufacturing for the past 100 years. That predominance will soon be replaced by something much more individual, much more local, much more flexible. And whatever Neil Gershenfeld says, I've still got a hunch that 3D printing is going to have quite a part in the revolution. Even though I have never done it. In Business: New Dimensions is on BBC R4 at 8.30pm on Thursday 16th May, repeated at 9.30pm on Sunday 19th May.

नील गेर्शेनफेल्ड ने मुझे 10 साल पहले एडिटिव मैन्युफैक्चरिंग की क्षमता से परिचित कराया था, जिसे 3डी प्रिंटिंग के रूप में भी जाना जाता है, और मैं इसकी संभावनाओं के बारे में बहुत उत्साहित था। और अब, वर्षों बाद, वे मेरे उत्साह को कम करने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं।


Graphene technology moves closer

Summary: Graphene is a "wonder material" waiting to happen.

By Katia MoskvitchTechnology reporter, BBC News Since this super-conductive form of carbon, made from single-atom-thick sheets, was first produced in 2004, it has promised to revolutionise electronics. But until recently, it existed more in the realm of science than technology, with limited production techniques and only theoretical applications. Now a couple of breakthroughs are promising to take graphene out of the lab and into real devices. The first relates to how it is made. Currently graphene is "grown" at sweltering temperatures using chemical vapour deposition. "In the process, a mixture of gases is passed above the catalyst metal - a piece of copper foil or thin nickel film - heated to about 1000C," said Dr Daniil Stolyarov, chief technology officer at New York-based Graphene Laboratories. "Methane molecules decompose on the surface of the metal and release carbon atoms, which then assemble into a graphene film." The system is complex and relatively low yield. Now researchers at Northern Illinois University (NIU) have found a much easier way to manufacture high volumes of graphene - by burning magnesium in dry ice. The scientists say that the method is simple, faster and greener. Reporting their findings in the Journal of Materials Chemistry, the team revealed that it had managed to produce "few layer" graphene, several atoms thick. The NIU discovery happened as a by-product of research into creating carbon nano-tubes. "It surprised us all," said Narayan Hosmane, professor of chemistry and biochemistry. Faster chips The second major breakthrough exciting materials scientists centres on a possible application for graphene. Its conductive properties are well known and it has long been the vision of chip designers to construct graphene-based processors. IBM made early inroads in 2010 when it created a basic graphene transistor. This month, the company announced that it had gone a step further, integrating it into a circuit known as a broadband frequency mixer - an essential component of TVs, mobile phones and radios. "When a radio station broadcasts at a high frequency through space, the wave is then received by your radio, but the high frequency cannot be heard, so it must be converted into a low frequency wave that we can hear," the lead scientist of the project, Dr Phaedon Avouris, told BBC News. IBM calls its research an important milestone for the future of wireless devices. Perhaps more importantly, it demonstrates the capability of graphene integrated circuits. Previously, scientists had experienced difficulty preserving the integrity of the material during the silicon etching process. Getting it to work alongside other chip materials had also proved problematic. "Our work demonstrates that graphene can be used as practical technology, that it's no longer some individual material," said Dr Yu-Ming Lin, one of the scientists on the project. "This is the first wafer-scale production of graphene-integrated circuit - and we've shown that graphene can be integrated with other elements to form a complete function, which enables higher performance and more complex functionalities in a circuit." The results appear impressive. In their paper published in the journal Science, the team explained that the circuit could operate at high frequencies of up to 10GHz (10 billion cycles per second), and at temperatures of up to 127°C. Big surprise IBM's work surprised many - even the physicist behind the material's discovery. "I never suspected we would get there so fast," said Dr Konstantin Novoselov of Manchester University. He is the man who, together with a colleague Dr Andre Geim, first produced this highly conductive, extremely strong and transparent material in 2004. The two scientists, both originally from Russia, managed to extract graphene while experimenting with plain old sticky tape and graphite, commonly used in pencils. The pair won the prestigious Nobel Prize for their breakthrough. "This integrated circuit is a logical step forward, and it's somewhere in the middle between the first experiments and real-life applications," said Dr Novoselov. "But I was surprised to see that someone managed to do it that quickly." Other applications Electronics giants as well as small labs have been eyeing graphene's future prospects, hungry for smaller, faster, thermally stable and more powerful electronic components. Korea's Samsung has invested heavily into graphene research, and the Finnish firm Nokia has just announced its plans to team up with partners - among them the two Nobel-prize winners - to explore graphene opportunities. Besides electronics, graphene could be used in optics and composite material applications. A number of graphene-based prototypes have already been developed in labs around the world - and it seems that possibilities are almost endless. It has also proven a hit with biologists - as the most transparent, strongest and most conductive material on Earth, graphene could be an ideal candidate for Transmission Electron Microscopy. Samsung has promised to release its first mobile phone with a graphene screen in the near future. Professor Andrea Ferrari of Cambridge University says that besides being totally flexible, a touch screen of a phone or a tablet made of graphene could even give you "sensational" feedback. "We went from physical buttons to touch screens, the next step will be integrating some sensing capabilities," says Professor Ferrari. "Your phone will be able to sense if you're touching it, will sense the environment around - you won't have to press a button to turn it on or off, it will recognise if you're using it or not." Also, he said, one day we might not need to carry around GPS devices - along with other graphene-based sensors, they could be woven into our clothes. "Besides GPS, you could have something that will monitor your heart rate for instance - and it'll be integrated into the fabric," explains Professor Ferrari. And graphene could even help airplanes "communicate" with pilots. The scientist explained that electrical properties of graphene change depending on the strain it is subjected to - like when there are strong winds, for instance. So the casing of the plane would be able to sense if it is under great or small stress, and feedback the information directly to the cockpit, without the need for additional sensors.

ग्राफीन एक "अद्भुत सामग्री" है जो होने की प्रतीक्षा कर रही है।


LTI black cabs back on the road after steering fix

Summary: More than 400 black cabs are back on the road after a steering fault was fixed, the administrators of the firm where they were made has said.

LTI in Coventry went into administration in October with 99 out of its 176 workers losing their jobs. Price Waterhouse Coopers said work would now get under way to fix the same problem on 600 new and unregistered vehicles. It said this work should be completed by late February. Union leaders and MPs are hoping to get assurances that black cab-maker LTI will remain in the UK. Members of Unite and Coventry MPs asked Business Minister Michael Fallon to support their campaign for LTI to continue production.

जिस फर्म में उन्हें बनाया गया था, उसके प्रशासकों ने कहा है कि स्टीयरिंग फॉल्ट ठीक होने के बाद 400 से अधिक काली कैब सड़क पर वापस आ गई हैं।


Jewish Londoners fear for their safety after Paris attacks

Summary: Politicians and police in Britain have spoken of "heightened concern" in Jewish communities following the terror attacks in France that included the killing of four men at a kosher supermarket. So what has been the impact on people living and working in Jewish areas, such as London's Golders Green?

By Emma Ailes & Mario CacciottoloBBC News "An attack in our community is inevitable." Israel Morgenstern is bracing himself for a terror attack aimed at the Jewish community in Britain. "It's going to come. It all depends how and where." Mr Morgenstern, 37, who lives in Golders Green but is originally from Israel, is married with three children, and says he has a weight on his mind whenever he sends them off to school. While he is talking, he points out three police cars which pass by, and also says that he welcomes local patrols conducted by the Community Security Trust (CST), a Jewish security charity. However, he says that he does not know "how much they would be able to help" in the event of an attack. "Maybe, just maybe they would alert the police two minutes earlier. "I like it in this country, I prefer it to Israel. We want to relax here, but we can't right now." 'On edge' Lord Sacks, former chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, has told the BBC that anxiety levels among British Jews are at an "all-time high" in his lifetime. However, he adds that "the most recent survey shows that the overwhelming number of Jews in Britain feel safe here. It remains one of the most tolerant societies on earth". The threat has been a background noise for many years, he says. "We are used to it, we are well prepared. This is well under control." Along with the visible increased police presence in Jewish areas of London, "internally our security level has risen", he says. At one of the area's largest kosher supermarkets, all appears to be business as usual. But its manager Chuny Rokach says that, since the Paris attacks, anxious customers have been phoning and emailing him to ask what security measures the shop has in place. "We've trained our staff on what to do if there is an incident - how to communicate, where the exits are," he says. "They have radios, and we've checked our CCTV to make sure it's effective. People are still shopping, but our customers are definitely on edge. " Mr Rokach is in daily contact with the CST, but says he wants to see more police actually walking the beat, not just driving up and down the main road. "The police haven't been in touch to talk to us about security. We haven't had any issues, but obviously it's a concern. "You do see some extra patrols on Saturdays and Sundays, but we've communicated through the CST that we'd like to see a more visible police presence in the area." Party security The authorities say they are listening to concerns. On Friday, Met Police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley, the national policing lead for counter-terrorism, said a security review was under way, and that police were holding talks about providing "more patrols in key areas". It is a measure that has been welcomed by leaders in the Jewish community, while some individuals are also taking their own steps in order to feel safe. Frances Bronzite, 64, is visiting Golders Green from her home in Redbridge, Essex, to buy supplies for her son's engagement party. She consulted with the CST about the party, and was advised that they should arrange to have security present. "I told my son, and I thought he'd laugh, but he said, 'No mum, they're right,'" she says. "It's a party at his fiancee's house for about 200 people. They told us we should have security on the door. "That never would have occurred to us before." Mrs Bronzite says it is not just the threat of Islamist extremism that worries her, but also what she sees as a rise in right-wing anti-Semitism. "I haven't changed my behaviour. Why should I? I still go about life as normal. We're British, born and bred. "But I think we have to be very wary and very observant. I haven't felt this worried before." It is a view echoed by two women who stop outside a Jewish bakery to chat. They are happy to give their opinion, but do not want to give their name or a photograph for fear of being "targeted". The younger of the two is visiting from Israel. "Of course there are attacks in Jerusalem, but I was more scared in London," she says. "I was scared to go to the kosher supermarket. "Personally, I feel people here should be moving to Israel." Her companion is more stoical, however. "I've lived here for 40 years," she says. "Of course we're worried after seeing what happened in Paris, but you still have to go shopping and do things. "The way I deal with it is to not think about it. If I let myself think about it, of course I will be scared. But you have to get on with life."

ब्रिटेन में राजनेताओं और पुलिस ने फ्रांस में आतंकवादी हमलों के बाद यहूदी समुदायों में "बढ़ी हुई चिंता" की बात की है जिसमें कोशेर सुपरमार्केट में चार लोगों की हत्या शामिल है। तो लंदन के गोल्डर्स ग्रीन जैसे यहूदी क्षेत्रों में रहने और काम करने वाले लोगों पर क्या प्रभाव पड़ा है?


'Toxic' drug warning as man dies and woman critically ill in Cardiff

Summary: Police have issued a drugs warning after a 25-year-old man died and an 18-year-old woman was left critically ill.

Officers in Cardiff said they have launched an investigation into the supply of dangerous drugs, believed to be linked to the anaesthetic ketamine. South Wales Police said there was "every possibility" the drugs "contain a cocktail of toxic ingredients". They have appealed for help in tracking down the supply. Ketamine is often snorted as a powder, and can be mixed with unknown contaminants. It is a hallucinogenic and can have potentially life-threatening side-effects if mixed with some other drugs, such as ecstasy or amphetamines.

एक 25 वर्षीय व्यक्ति की मृत्यु और एक 18 वर्षीय महिला के गंभीर रूप से बीमार होने के बाद पुलिस ने ड्रग्स की चेतावनी जारी की है।


Pavlo Lapshyn's 90 days of terror

Summary: A racist man who murdered a Muslim grandfather within five days of coming to the UK from Ukraine and then planted bombs outside mosques in the West Midlands is facing a life sentence. But who is Pavlo Lapshyn and what was his motive for carrying out a 90-day campaign of terror?

By David Lumb and Dominic CascianiBBC News During his police interviews, the Ukrainian student made no secret of his motive. "Racism," he said. "I would like to increase racial conflict because they are not white and I am white." The software engineer had only been in the UK for five days when he stabbed to death Mohammed Saleem on the streets of Small Heath in Birmingham. He went on to launch three bomb attacks on mosques - and detectives believe he would have done it again had he not been discovered. Lapshyn's journey to a conviction for murder began when the PHD student specialising in technology of machine-building won a competition for a work placement with Delcam, a specialist software firm in Birmingham. He arrived on 24 April and moved into an apartment on the industrial estate where the company is based - right in the heart of Small Heath, one of Birmingham's most ethnically diverse areas. Just a few streets away lived Mohammed Saleem. On 29 April the 82-year-old grandfather was walking home from evening prayers. He was just yards from his front door when Lapshyn attacked from behind, stabbing the pensioner three times. His daughters said that it was clear from the start that he had been the victim of a premeditated attack on an elderly Muslim man. "My Dad was a well-loved man," Shazia Khan told a news conference. "He was respected by everyone in this community. We all have the right to feel safe and nobody should have to go through this. "The inflictions and brutality that he had to suffer - he was an elderly man. It is just unbearable, unbelievable. We cannot even comprehend what he must have gone through." Bomb plans Police released grainy CCTV video of a white man running from the scene but nobody knew who he was. And alone in his isolated apartment, Lapshyn had already switched to new plans. He built three bombs - each increasing in size and capability. The first, hidden inside a child's lunchbox, exploded outside Walsall's Aisha Mosque on 21 June. Worshippers were inside at prayers and nobody was hurt but it still led to the evacuation of 150 people from nearby homes. Lapshyn pleaded not guilty to causing an explosion likely to endanger life at that mosque. But he did plead guilty to preparing acts of terrorism, including in relation to that device. Another device, on 28 June, targeted Wolverhampton Central Mosque. People reported hearing a loud bang but the bomb was not discovered by police until three weeks later. The most powerful device, which Lapshyn packed with 600 grams of nails - 25mm long - exploded outside the Kanzul Iman Masjid mosque in Tipton on 12 July. Lapshyn pleaded guilty to causing this explosion which the court heard could have killed somebody. The bomb could have killed people in the busy car park, it heard. But prayers at the mosque had been put back an hour because of Ramadan. It was the week before an English Defence League demonstration was due to take place in the region and Waste Zaffar, Birmingham City Council's cabinet member for Community Safety said Muslim communities felt under attack. "Communities were scared," he said. "Communities were fearful of what was going to happen next." Breakthrough But West Midlands Police were struggling to make progress in what Det Supt Shaun Edwards said was an extremely difficult investigation. "No witnesses, very little forensic evidence," he said. "Poor quality CCTV. Despite lots of appeals and a £10,000 reward offered through Crimestoppers, we had practically nothing." Firefighters had even been drafted in to recover nail fragments embedded in trees at the Tipton blast, in case they yielded vital forensic leads. Then the police had a breakthrough. Officers spotted a man on CCTV walking towards the Walsall mosque carrying a lunchbox. CCTV footage later linked the suspect to the still-unknown Lapshyn on a bus in Small Heath. Ultimately, they traced the man back to the industrial estate where a Delcam employee confirmed his identity. Delcam's chief executive Clive Martell confirmed Lapshyn was on a temporary work placement at the firm. He said the company had cooperated with police inquiries and had been "shocked and saddened" by events over the summer. When police searched Lapshyn's apartment, they found computer files confirming his extremist mindset and online bomb research. Lapshyn had bought chemicals and a coffee grinder to prepare devices. He had also adapted three mobile phones to act as timers. Everything for the bombs had been bought over the internet, from market stalls or local supermarkets. When police officers asked Lapshyn why he had attacked Mr Saleem, the student said: "I have a racial hatred so I have a motivation, a racial motivation and racial hatred." Det Supt Edwards said: "He's been described by colleagues who interviewed him as calm, calculated and committed. His hatred of what he described as non-white people and his knowledge of how to [build] bombs, all put together, made him extremely dangerous." Lapshyn acted alone but police don't know whether he had formed his plans before coming to the UK. "At the moment we are still making inquiries with the Ukrainian authorities," said Det Supt Edwards. "We have no evidence that he pre-planned or specifically targeted Mr Saleem. It would appear that he targeted him tragically because he was in the wrong place at the right time [for Lapshyn's plans]." Evidence has however emerged from Ukraine about Lapshyn's mindset and past. Lapshyn published a reference to an extremist neo-nazi text on his Russian-language social media page before coming to the UK - and a reference to it was found on his computer in Birmingham. And three years ago Lapshyn was investigated in his native city of Dnipropetrovsk over mishandling explosives which damaged his flat. He told local police that he had been experimenting with chemicals for scientific purposes. He received a fine. Mr Saleem's family remains dissatisfied with the way the police initially handled the inquiry. Other Muslims in the West Midlands have questioned the government's response to the murder and the three mosque attacks, comparing it with how the government dealt with the street-killing of Fusilier Lee Rigby weeks later. "The fact that a Cobra meeting [of ministers and security chiefs] wasn't called is not only appalling but shocked me to bits," says Waseem Zaffar of Birmingham City Council. Pavlo Lapshyn was a "calm, calculated and committed" killer, motivated by the hatred of anyone who wasn't white.

एक नस्लवादी व्यक्ति जिसने यूक्रेन से ब्रिटेन आने के पांच दिनों के भीतर एक मुस्लिम दादा की हत्या कर दी और फिर वेस्ट मिडलैंड्स में मस्जिदों के बाहर बम लगाए, उसे आजीवन कारावास की सजा का सामना करना पड़ रहा है। लेकिन पावलो लापशिन कौन है और 90 दिनों के आतंक के अभियान को अंजाम देने का उसका मकसद क्या था?


World War II grenade found on Selly Oak demolition site

Summary: Bomb disposal experts were called to a Birmingham building site after workmen found a wartime grenade.

The World War II grenade was found by workers at a demolition site on Bristol Road, Selly Oak. The road was closed to all traffic at about 17:00 BST and opened again at 20:30 BST. Police set up a 100m cordon around the area and evacuated a "handful" of people from nearby homes while investigations continued. By 20:45 BST the force declared the area safe again.

कर्मचारियों को युद्धकालीन ग्रेनेड मिलने के बाद बम निरोधक विशेषज्ञों को बर्मिंघम भवन स्थल पर बुलाया गया।


Does the military still control Pakistan?

Summary: Some call it military rule by stealth. Others prefer to describe it as the generals and the politicians working harmoniously in the national interest. But however you look at it, there's no denying the Pakistan army's political power is growing.

By Owen Bennett-JonesBBC News It all dates back to the Peshawar school attack of 16 December 2014 when the Pakistani Taliban murdered 132 schoolboys. Within days the civilian leadership had formulated a 20-point National Action Plan to confront the militants, curb their hate speeches, control their religious seminaries and cut their finances. Aware that the civilian courts are generally reluctant to convict Jihadists, the parliament then passed a constitutional amendment to establish military courts. The army then announced new "apex committees" that brought together senior politicians, bureaucrats, intelligence officials and military officers. As many as 50,000 suspected militants have been detained or arrested and in another sign of the state's resolve, Malik Ishaq, the leader of a formidable sectarian group, Lashkar e Jhangvi, was shot dead by police in what is widely believed to be an extra-judicial killing. The crackdown has led to sharply reduced levels of militant violence. And with media highlighting the role of the army chief General Raheel Sharif, the army is enjoying a surge of public support. But for all the hopes that the Peshawar School attacks might have marked a significant turning point, some wonder whether the National Action Plan will bring lasting change. After all, Pakistanis could be forgiven for thinking they have seen it all before. Tens of thousands of suspected militants were detained by General Musharraf's regime in 2007, only to be released a few months later. Since the state lacks the capacity to investigate the detainees the same could well happen again. When he announced the National Action Plan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif stated that Pakistan would no longer distinguish between the "good" Taliban (who fight Pakistan's enemies) and the "bad" Taliban (who attack targets in Pakistan itself). Selective targets But in reality the state is still being selective about which groups it targets. Pakistani-based Jihadist groups with a history of fighting Indian forces in the disputed territory of Kashmir are being left alone. So too are the Afghan Taliban and the Afghan-facing Haqqani Network which stands accused of mounting recent attacks in Kabul. Perhaps most controversially of all Lashkar e Toiba (or as its renamed itself, Jamaat ud Dawa), the group accused of mounting the 2008 Mumbai attacks, has not been confronted. The group's leader Hafeez Saeed is frequently quoted in the Pakistan press. And no-one is expecting further legal action against, for example, LSE graduate Omar Sheikh who has been convicted of involvement in the 2002 murder of the Wall Street Journal's Daniel Pearl. His appeal has been pending since 2002. Nor is there likely to be any resolution of the case of Mumtaz Qadri who in 2011 killed the Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer. Qadri, who objected to Taseer's calls for reform of the blasphemy laws, enjoys hero status in Pakistan. Neither the army nor the government will want to risk undermining public support for the National Action Plan by including Qadri in its net. Privately officials say they have to prioritize militants who attack targets within Pakistan. But even that claim is questionable. Fearing a violent backlash, the state has hesitated to confront militants in their strongholds in Southern Punjab. The risks are real. Within three weeks of Malik Ishaq's death, for example, Lashkar e Jhangvi hit back with a suicide bomb attack that killed the Home Minster of Punjab, Shuja Khanzada. There are also questions about the impact of the National Action Plan on Pakistan's notoriously volatile civil/military relations. Elected representatives both in the national parliament and provincial assemblies complain that they have been cut out of decision-making. Cult of personality Some also express fears about an emerging cult of personality around Army Chief General Raheel Sharif. Posters of him have appeared on billboards throughout Pakistan's biggest city Karachi. Mysterious websites, which seem to have access to images sourced from the military, praise him to the skies. After decades of very poor PR, the army is now producing emotive, patriotic rock songs to bolster support for the anti-Jihadist campaign. While Pakistani liberals worry about these developments, they simultaneously concede that if the counter narrative to the Jihadists has a militaristic air, its only because the civilians have failed to come up with an effective information strategy of their own. The contest for public support has had an impact on Pakistan's previously irrepressible TV news channels. Many have become so nervous about upsetting the army that they are making use of a 30-second delay on live broadcasts so that the sound can be muted before it's transmitted. Originally brought in to stop uncritical interviews of Jihadists, the mechanism is now being used to protect the army's reputation. One prime time TV host described how her voice was muted as soon as she used the word "military". The person controlling the mute button did not know if she was going to say something supportive or critical of the men in uniform - so decided to play it safe. The army's ascendency means that despite his strong electoral mandate Nawaz Sharif is unable to pursue some of his objectives. His desire to improve relations with India has run up against the army's insistence that the intractable Kashmir issue should be at the forefront of any talks process. General Raheel Sharif Wary embrace Mr Sharif has also been blocked from pursuing legal action against the man who removed him from power last time round, General Musharraf. The army is unwilling to see a former chief on trial for treason. For now the government and the army are locked in a wary embrace. They are working together but in part that is because the civilian politicians fear that if they allow a gap to emerge between them and the military there will be another coup. Some wonder how long the current situation can last. "Let me tell you what I have learnt from history," said Pakistan's most prominent human rights lawyer, Asma Jahangir. "Our army doesn't want power. It wants absolute power." Listen to Owen's report on the Newshour Extra podcast.

कुछ लोग इसे चुपके से सैन्य शासन कहते हैं। अन्य लोग इसे जनरलों और राजनेताओं के रूप में वर्णित करना पसंद करते हैं जो राष्ट्रीय हित में सौहार्दपूर्ण तरीके से काम कर रहे हैं। लेकिन आप इसे देखें, इस बात से कोई इनकार नहीं है कि पाकिस्तानी सेना की राजनीतिक शक्ति बढ़ रही है।


What's wrong with Wales' trains?

Summary: Wales has train trouble. So how did we get here? And is there light at the end of the tunnel? The BBC Wales news website sat down with Nick Servini - presenter of this week's Week In Week Out programme which examined the issues in detail - in search of some answers. You can watch the full programme here on the iPlayer

So what exactly is the problem with trains in Wales? They are old, they cost a lot to maintain, there are not enough of them and passenger over-crowding has reached record levels. All that is leading to disruption at certain times on some services Passenger numbers are on the up - they've risen from 18 million in 2003 when Arriva Train Wales (ATW) first started running our trains, to 30 million currently. But Arriva Trains Wales, who run the Wales and Borders franchise, have a zero growth contract - which means they are stuck with the same number of trains they had in 2003. People rely on trains to get to work so Arriva is the first to be blamed when things go wrong. And over the past couple of months, they've been fielding a torrent of complaints. Quite often there are only two carriages on trains, they fill up quickly so people further down the line towards city centres can't board and have to wait for a later services which frequently makes them late. Some feel a poor train service is holding back our local economies. That's not good. Time to modernise? Yes, indeed. Arriva needs new trains that don't need constant maintenance; trains like those being assembled at one of the largest train manufactures Bombardier in Derby. There have been inquiries from Wales but no trains will be ordered from anywhere until it's clear which company wins the new franchise to run our trains which is up for grabs in 2018. There's also the question of whether our trains will be diesel, electric, hybrids or something else. But compared to the rest of the UK, we're doing ok aren't we? Depends how you look at it. Of course over-crowding on the railways is not unique to Wales - a busy city like Manchester is a case in point. According to the latest Department of Transport figures for 2015, over-crowding rates for Manchester are higher than in Cardiff. But the problem is the rates are falling in Manchester whereas in Cardiff the number of people on the morning commute is rising - and rising at a faster rate than anywhere else in the UK outside London. And that increase was recorded before ATW admitted that over-crowding on its services had reached its highest level in recent years. So we're back to that basic problem again - Arriva's contract means it is trying to deal with the extra demand, with the same number of trains they had back in 2003. Ok, so there's a lack of trains. The solution is simple - buy some more and add on a few more carriages to existing ones? That's difficult due to the contract under which ATW runs the trains. It's a zero growth contract. Rail industry expert Tony Miles explains: "You are locked into the number of trains you'd got at the beginning over a long contract. That is the problem. "How do you predict what's going to happen in 15 years' time? And get it right? On a long contract like 15 years, we didn't know people would be abandoning their cars and saying I'd prefer to commute on public transport. "That's one of the flaws in the way it was done. Lovely to have everything nice and secure and signed off but it gave no flexibility." It doesn't help pressure that trains in Wales are some of the oldest stock in Europe - our oldest train has done 4.5m miles. And the average age of Arriva Trains Wales rolling stock is 27 years, with the oldest being 40 years. So you're telling me ATW's contract continues until 2018 and it can't be changed which includes adding any more trains to existing stock. But is it really as black and white as all that? Not exactly. There have been changes. For instance, Ebbw Vale's station didn't exist when ATW took over the franchise in 2003. But the new line was built and services began in 2008 and thanks to money from the Welsh Government, three additional trains were leased to take passengers up and down to Cardiff. So it seems where there's a will - and money - you can agree to run more trains and more services, above and beyond any franchise agreement. And that's not the only example. Two years ago a new train was introduced to run from Holyhead to Manchester thanks to extra cash from the UK Government. A north-south Wales service and extra capacity on some valley lines have been added too thanks to Welsh Government money. You say passenger numbers are shooting up. Surely all the additional fares from those passengers could help fund extra trains? The way we run our railways is full of surprises. A big one for me is that the Welsh rail services are among the most heavily subsidised in the UK. Arriva is paid anything from £110m to £160m through their contract every year to run trains in Wales - that's because while some routes make money from fares many others are carrying what's referred to in the industry as "thin air". Ok, so in the meantime why doesn't Arriva lease some more existing, second-hand trains? Er… once again not quite that simple. I asked Simon Hughes, ATW's director of engineering the same question and he said they'd love to get more trains but they're unable to get the right kind at the moment although they're going to keep on trying. It is true that the UK's three big rolling stock companies don't have the trains Arriva wants. But then rail expert Tony Miles says there are smaller companies with rolling stock that could be used in Wales. He says some are available to railway companies to use on a daily services , but he says as they use a locomotive to pull them they are very expensive to use as charges are levied on ATW by Network Rail who are responsible for the railway tracks. ATW's director of customer services Lynne Milligan says it's not an ideal solution. What about the Welsh Assembly Government - where does it stand in all this? I asked Welsh Government minister Ken Skates what he thought... And to press that message home further, he added: "Because a franchise was a failed franchise. And a franchise that is not fit for purpose, it has not obligated the operator to go out to seek additional rolling stock that we would wish to use." How about ATW - one of the heaviest subsidised franchises in the UK - using some of its profits to tackle overcrowding? ATW says it operates about 20% more than is contractual so they feel they've made a commitment to this business. the company also points out that they've invested well over £30m in a whole series of customer enhancements and this year alone are going to invest a further £2.5m despite fact that in 18 months' time they could well be walking away from it. But Ken Skates thinks ATW's 6.9% profits are too high and says the company should be investing more in the service. ATW is quick to point out that 10 years ago government subsidy made up 55% of its income and now makes up 40% as that subsidy declines every year. Regardless of the arguments, in 18 months' time there will be a new franchise. Whoever is successful, drawing up the right contract is going to be essential. As for solving the current overcrowding? That seems to have descended into a blame game with the commuters stuck in the middle. The latest Passenger Satisfaction Survey which looks at issues from ticketing and toilets to staff availability and stations shows that Arriva's overall results are stable, but people's happiness with the actual trains has declined. Meanwhile, ATW director of customer services Lynne Milligan says the company is doing its very best every day in difficult circumstances. "I'd love to be able to say here's more trains, give everybody a seat on those services but just don't have it so for us the challenge is how do we make the best service we've got," she added. Is it true that half the problems experienced by passengers are not the trains but the track? The track is Network Rail's responsibility as well as things like cleaning leaves off the line and fixing broken signals etc. Over Christmas they were major delays due to work being done Cardiff Central but the station's signalling control room Route managing director Andy Thomas believes the changes will deliver real benefits. "The £300 million signalling system in Cardiff was the biggest signalling commissioned ever for the UK to date. "It's designed to increase the number of trains to go through Cardiff - from 12 trains per hour to 16 trains per hour. And that resilience is important because that allows us, when things go wrong we can recover quickly to minimise the impact on passengers." And what about Cardiff Central station itself? The station is decades out of date and is just one example of what some say is an underinvestment in the Welsh rail network. Ken Skates said that the amount being spent on the network in Wales has only been 1% on provision of the network improvements despite the fact that we have 6% of railway lines in Wales. I asked Mr Skates if he was shouting loudly enough. He said he has but it's been met with resistance from the UK Government consistently. Undeterred he said they've been equally consistent in demands for fair share of network funding and for devolution of responsibility so the Welsh Assembly Government can invest where necessary. The UK Transport Secretary Chris Grayling declined to be interviewed. His Department highlighted their recent investments in signalling and electrification but say the provision and funding of the rail franchise in Wales is, yes you guessed it - the responsibility of the Welsh Government.

वेल्स में ट्रेन की समस्या है। तो हम यहाँ कैसे पहुँचे? और क्या सुरंग के अंत में रोशनी है? बीबीसी वेल्स समाचार वेबसाइट निक सर्विनी के साथ बैठ गई-इस सप्ताह के वीक इन वीक आउट कार्यक्रम के प्रस्तुतकर्ता जिन्होंने कुछ उत्तरों की तलाश में मुद्दों की विस्तार से जांच की। आप यहाँ आईप्लेयर पर पूरा कार्यक्रम देख सकते हैं।


Mystery of the botched kidnap of a millionaire hotelier on the French Riviera

Summary: A Michelin-starred restaurateur, a former press photographer called Tintin and a homeless Englishman who says he was in the SAS: these are the main suspects in last week's botched kidnap of a luxury hotel-owner on the French Riviera.

By Hugh SchofieldBBC News, Paris Jacqueline Veyrac, millionaire proprietor of the Grand Hotel in Cannes, was seized last Monday on a street in central Nice. Two days later she was freed after being spotted by a passerby on a road in hills above the city. She was bound and gagged and lying on the floor of a parked van. The passerby had been drawn to the vehicle because one of its registration plates was hanging off - revealing a second plate underneath. On Sunday, the state prosecutor in Nice praised Mme Veyrac's courage throughout her two-day ordeal, all of it spent on the floor of the van. "She never gave up. She showed exceptional character," said Jean-Michel Pretre. Twice the 76 year old managed to wriggle out of the plastic cords binding her hands and ankles, but each time her captors spotted her. Throughout her captivity she refused to eat the food she was offered, and took only water. Unusual cast According to the prosecutor, six people have been arrested and placed under investigation for kidnap and extortion. A seventh man - a former policeman - faces the lesser charge of not reporting a crime. Five of the seven remain in custody. The main suspect is Giuseppe Serena, a 63-year-old businessman and restaurateur from Italy, who used to run the famous La Reserve restaurant on a promontory above Nice harbour. La Reserve is a Nice landmark - and also belongs to the Veyrac family. According to the prosecutor, Mr Serena bore a grudge against Mme Veyrac, who he blamed for the collapse of his venture at La Reserve. In 2007, he had signed a contract to run the restaurant in partnership with Finnish chef Jouni Tormanen. The two had previously controlled the Michelin-starred L'Atelier du Gout in Nice. But by 2009 La Reserve was crippled with debt. They scaled back the operation, but too late, and their company was eventually declared bankrupt. Today La Reserve is under a new team. According to the prosecutor, Mr Serena was planning to issue a ransom demand to the Veyrac family in order to recover the large sum of money he says he lost in La Reserve. To plan the kidnap, he allegedly recruited an unusual cast of characters. They included a man named by the prosecutor as Luc G, nicknamed "Tintin", a former paparazzo turned private detective whose task - according to the prosecutor - was to place GPS tracer beacons on Mme Veyrac's car. Another alleged recruit was a Briton living rough on the Promenade des Anglais - the Nice seaside drive that was the scene of last July's deadly lorry attack. This man allegedly claimed to have served with UK special forces and was given the job of tracking Mme Veyrac's movements. The others indicted are said to have carried out the kidnap. Police are trying to see if there is a link with a previous failed kidnap attempt on Mme Veyrac in 2013.

एक मिशेलिन-तारांकित रेस्तरां मालिक, टिनटिन नामक एक पूर्व प्रेस फोटोग्राफर और एक बेघर अंग्रेज जो कहता है कि वह एसएएस में थाः ये पिछले सप्ताह फ्रेंच रिवेरा में एक लक्जरी होटल-मालिक के अपहरण के मुख्य संदिग्ध हैं।


Another hung parliament? Four scenarios that could follow

Summary: It's Friday 8 May, the day after the general election. The votes have been cast and counted, and a clear picture has emerged - the UK will have a second successive hung parliament.

The question on everyone's lips: What next? This is the challenge the BBC's Newsnight has set four political commentators, giving each a different election outcome and asking them to envisage what might happen if the results came true. Here, they imagine how the political landscape may change given such fictional scenarios: Rafael Behr, The Guardian The scenario given to Rafael Behr sees Labour gain 20 more seats than the Conservatives, with the Lib Dems down from 57 MPs in 2011 to 25 in 2015. In the early hours of Friday 8 May it looked as if David Cameron might still cling on - after all, it is his right as the incumbent to have first go at putting a government together. But the arithmetic was against him. Tory backbenchers were already talking openly about joining UKIP. Boris Johnson, the newly elected MP for Uxbridge, said David Cameron had been "neutered by numbskulls and the numbers". And it was true - by the end of the day the prime minister had resigned. Two weeks passed between election night and the moment Ed Miliband stood on the steps of 10 Downing Street. He had negotiated what he called "an alliance for change" - not a formal coalition, but an agreement in principle by the Liberal Democrats, Greens and Scottish Nationalists to support a "progressive government" on a case-by-case basis. This was an arrangement newspapers started calling "suck it and see", while the Independent ran the headline "Green there, done that!", as the Green's MP for Brighton Caroline Lucas was offered the role of climate secretary - announcing an immediate moratorium on fracking. For the SNP, renewal of the UK's nuclear deterrent, Trident, was put on ice. So, if the alliance held, Miliband would have a majority of 29. But it didn't. Since Labour took just 31% of the vote - second to the Tories on 35 - newspapers started referring to the new government as the "League of Losers". Soon there were demonstrations, and on social media badges appeared saying "We are the 69%" - the percentage of people who had never even voted for Miliband. Nick Clegg stood down as Lib Dem leader to accept a role as chair of a new Constitutional Convention, but he soon clashed with Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander when he claimed relations with the EU as part of his new job. SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon threatened to withhold support for a Labour budget when Chancellor Ed Balls refused to consult her on spending in Scotland. Newly chosen Conservative leader Boris Johnson tabled a no confidence vote and called for MPs to end the "mathematical monstrosity of moribund Mili-minority". The Lib Dems split, the SNP abstained and in the end it was 30 despairing Labour rebels who brought their own government down. Under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, the parties have a fortnight to hold negotiations on a new coalition. Otherwise, there's a second election. Quentin Letts, Daily Mail The scenario given to Quentin Letts sees the Conservatives and Labour on an equal footing, with the SNP gaining 45 seats. Yes, Labour's collapse in Scotland had been predicted, but it was still a jolt to see Alex Salmond standing alongside Prime Minister Ed Miliband in the Downing Street garden that May morning. The deal? A Scottish independence referendum for the SNP. And for Labour - power. Deputy Prime Minister Salmond - now Westminster leader of his Edinburgh-based party - looked very much the senior partner alongside a blinking, stammering Miliband. And here was the big question now dominating politics: Who runs Britain - England or the Celts? A mini-coalition with Plaid Cymru, the SDLP and Sinn Fein made the SNP kingmakers. They were never going to side with the Conservatives. The end game for the SNP remained the break-up of the UK, but some nationalists feared going into coalition with Labour would dilute their identity as separatists. A source close to Mr Salmond described the wider goal - infuriate the English so much that they want to end the union. "Nats the way to do it," ran the Scottish Sun. Full of bravado, Mr Salmond swaggered up Downing Street and announced outside the door of No 10: "It was the Jocks wot won it." Interrupting Ed Miliband at the press conference, he said: "The English bossed us around for 300 years, now it's our turn." At an occasionally violent rally in Wembley stadium, the Tories - led by Theresa May - and UKIP demanded a referendum on English independence. The Queen begged English voters to "think very carefully" about any breakaway. Financial markets were jittery. Meanwhile, from Dover House - Whitehall residence of our new deputy PM - there came the sound of bagpipes, Scottish reels and the melodious baritone of Alex Salmond. Isabel Hardman, The Spectator The scenario given to Isabel Hardman sees UKIP gain 6 MPs, while the Conservatives amass 17 more than Labour. UKIP's ability to secure six seats on the green benches was a feat unimaginable not all that long ago, and in the early hours of that May morning chaos reigned. Tory backbenchers weren't happy, and the drawn-out nature of the Conservative-Lib Dem negotiations had left David Cameron's critics with plenty of time to launch their own campaigns against him. Nick Clegg's demand for 50% representation on the Quad - the top decision-making committee in government - took up five full days of horse-trading alone. After three weeks, we finally had a government. Cameron insisted that all members of his Cabinet appear on TV to put their names to the new agreement. What helped them was the bloody ejection of Ed Miliband after Labour's abject failure. The new king? Chuka Umunna. "Over the Umunna," ran The Mirror's front page. "Red Ed Dead," went The Sun. And Guardian polls showed Nick Clegg's popularity was still not getting any better. The knives were sharpened for Clegg, but after surviving a botched leadership bid from Vince Cable he once more became deputy prime minister as the Lib Dems ended up with 10 ministers. Clegg continues to chair the cabinet committee on home affairs, which he uses to block all policies he doesn't like. But this isn't a coalition governing by majority. It is a minority government, relying on UKIP to deliver budgets and other key votes. The price for that? A 2016 EU referendum. No-one expects it to last very long or produce much in the way of big reforms. But unless all the parties involved in government vote to end it, the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act means the lifeless Con-Lib government - propped up by the kippers - lurches on. What this strange new government will achieve while it lasts is anyone's guess. But if you thought the last government ran a zombie Parliament, just wait until you get a load of this one. Helen Lewis, New Statesman The scenario given to Helen Lewis sees Labour lead the Conservatives by 23 seats, while the SNP amass four more than the Liberal Democrats. By the morning of Friday 8 May, Ed Miliband knew that either the Lib Dems or the SNP could deliver him enough seats to pass a budget. So should he go tartan, or yellow? Trying to dodge a hungry press pack, it was over a sausage and egg supper at an M1 service station that Alex Salmond and Mr Miliband met to thrash out a deal. But as the Labour leader emerged from the rendezvous it was clear that the SNP's leader at Westminster was asking for too much. Miliband wouldn't give up Trident, and he refused to strengthen his rivals by giving them even more tax powers in Scotland. So he moved on to a dinner date with Nick Clegg. There was plenty for their parties to agree on - Lords reform, higher property taxes, votes at 16. The sticking point was the men's frosty personal relationship. There was only one thing for it - Nick Clegg sealed the Lib-Lab coalition, and promptly fell on his sword. This meant a rather steep elevation for former party president Tim Farron, who went from backbencher to Lib Dem leader and deputy prime minister in one fell swoop. Elsewhere, in the defeated Tory party it was all-out war. Backbenchers rounded on their leader and the shadow cabinet imploded. "Eton Mess: Tories turn on one another" was the Telegraph's headline. As David Cameron returned to Oxfordshire to stick the kettle on, Boris Johnson took on Theresa May for the party's leadership. After a bruising battle, Boris emerged victorious - but his reign over the Tory party only lasted six months, until the Mirror's astonishing scoop over his unfortunate incident with the bicycle pump in the nunnery. Ed and Tim embarked on a somewhat familiar feeling programme of sweeping changes - another NHS reorganisation, withdrawing benefits from migrants, tough cuts to get the deficit down. And so, within a year of the 2015 election, the new Tory leader George Osborne was facing Ed Miliband across the despatch box. As the Labour leader blamed the new economic crisis on "the mess we inherited", voters wondered whether anything had really changed at all. Analysis: Allegra Stratton, BBC Newsnight Political Editor George Osborne likes to quote Lyndon B Johnson's first rule of politics: It's "practitioners need to be able to count." These days I have a lot of conversations in Westminster's Portcullis House that go like this: "The Tories lose 30 seats to Labour, get 15 off the Lib Dems and lose one to UKIP - which puts them on 290ish. Labour lose over 20 to the SNP. "Lib Dems get 30 seats, go back in with the Tories - that equals 320. With the DUP's 8 MPs they are over the magic 326 [the number of MPs needed for a majority]." The next conversation runs the numbers another way entirely: "Labour win 50 seats off the Tories and 15 from the Lib Dems..." and so on. A Beautiful Mind it isn't, but it's still more maths than Marx. It remains possible that between now and the general election - some 100 days away - there is a march back to the mainstream. That one of the two main parties breaks away from the other, with closer to 40% of the electorate planning to vote for them than 30%, as the public start to form a firmer idea of which they'd like to run the show. But we aren't there yet. Opinion polls show Labour and the Tory party edging along next to each other - crowded around a 32%, 33%, 34% low-water mark, only yielding each of them around 290 seats. So how to get over 326 MPs - or 323 if you factor in that at the moment the five Sinn Fein MPs don't take their seats? Opinion pollsters agree that if the polls stay where they are, three parties - not just two - may be needed to form a majority government. Newsnight broadcasts Monday to Friday on BBC Two, from 22:30 GMT.

यह शुक्रवार 8 मई है, आम चुनाव के अगले दिन। वोट डाले गए हैं और गिनती की गई है, और एक स्पष्ट तस्वीर सामने आई है-ब्रिटेन में लगातार दूसरी त्रिशंकु संसद होगी।