Kazakhstan election: Rare protests in a country that bans dissent

Summary: Kazakhstan elects a new president on Sunday. For the first time since independence, long-serving Soviet-era leader Nursultan Nazarbayev is not among the candidates. This has inspired rare calls for change - and a crackdown on protests.

By Abdujalil Abdurasulov BBC News, Almaty The power transfer has been planned "for more than three years", according to Mr Nazarbayev. And so far, the transition has been tightly managed. Mr Nazarbayev resigned in March. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, regarded as a hand-picked successor, became the new interim president. Then for the sake of "stability" snap elections were announced to complete the process. But it is not all going smoothly for the authorities. There have been a number of small protests calling for a boycott of the elections. In a country where no dissent is tolerated, it's remarkable to see a crowd chanting "No to the dictatorship". Some of the loudest voices have been from young people. Everyone in Kazakhstan born after 1990 has known only one leader for their entire life - Nursultan Nazarbayev. His resignation sparked hopes for change - but many Kazakhs quickly became disillusioned. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's first decision as president was to rename the capital Astana as Nur-Sultan. Many young activists interpreted it as a sign that everything had already been decided for them and the looming prospect of choosing their future themselves was nothing but a mirage. They felt betrayed. "Tokayev is not my president, Nur-Sultan is not my city, I have a choice," recited Medina Bazargaliyeva in a viral video. The surge of activism among the youth has been unprecedented. The hashtag "I have a choice" (#уменяестьвыбор) quickly spread on social media. Students started gathering to discuss how to become observers and make their voices heard. "On the surface, everything here looks fine. But when you scratch the surface, it's just ugly," says Asya Tulesova. It is young activists like Ms Tulesova who caught the authorities by surprise. Throwing them behind bars only fuelled the mood for protest. Asya Tulesova and another activist, Beibarys Tolymbekov, put up a banner at the Almaty marathon with a sign saying "You won't run away from the truth". They were sentenced to 15 days' detention for violating the public assembly law. Following their example, Roman Zakharov hung a banner in Almaty which quoted Kazakhstan's constitution: "The only source of the state power is the people." He was arrested for hooliganism. Another activist was detained for holding a blank poster. When he questioned why he was detained, the policeman replied, "We'll figure it out." The activist was held briefly and then released. Now protests continue in a new form - walking in the streets. Under the hashtag #seruen ("a walk" in Kazakh), young activists post their pictures on social media saying that they can't be detained for walking. Authorities say there is no need to protest as voters have a real choice from among the biggest and most diverse number of candidates that have ever been registered in Kazakhstan. Even long-time opposition member Amirzhan Kosanov is on the list. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev also promised that the elections would be "just, transparent and fair". But political analyst Dosym Satpaev says this plurality doesn't really offer a genuine choice as the process itself is flawed. The victory of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who is seen as Nazarbayev's man, is pretty much guaranteed. Observers agree that no serious changes can be expected after the vote as Mr Nazarbayev will retain enormous influence. He is the head of the Security Council for life. He remains the chairperson of the ruling Nur-Otan party. And as "the Leader of the Nation", Mr Nazarbayev's life-time title, he will be involved in all key decision-making processes. So, when Mr Nazarbayev joked at the recent party congress about the praise he had received, some viewed it only as a half-joke. "We are electing a new president, aren't we? It looks like I am being re-elected," he laughed.

कज़ाकिस्तान ने रविवार को एक नए राष्ट्रपति का चुनाव किया। स्वतंत्रता के बाद पहली बार, लंबे समय से सेवा कर रहे सोवियत युग के नेता नूरसुल्तान नज़रबायेव उम्मीदवारों में शामिल नहीं हैं। इसने परिवर्तन के लिए दुर्लभ आह्वान को प्रेरित किया है-और विरोध प्रदर्शनों पर एक कार्रवाई।


Aethelflaed: The warrior queen who broke the glass ceiling

Summary: How does a ruler defeat bloodthirsty invaders, secure a kingdom and lay the foundations for England - and then almost get written out of history? Be a woman, that's how. Exactly 1,100 years after her death Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, is emerging from the shadows.

By Greig WatsonBBC News Born into a tooth-and-nail war for survival against Viking invaders, Aethelflaed, daughter of Alfred the Great, grew up in a realm teetering on the brink of disaster. In 878 the royal family was forced to flee to the swamps of Somerset - just months before Alfred turned the tables and won a stunning victory over the Vikings at the Battle of Edington. Married at 16 to Aethelred, Lord of Mercia, Aethelflaed's new lands were the front line as an uneasy and fitful peace came to a fiery end with Alfred's death in 899. Dr Clare Downham, from the University of Liverpool, said: "She must have had quite a force of personality to overcome the assumptions of her time. "It is a mark of her success in male-dominated times she was accepted as a ruler and achieved incredible - even unique - things." You may also like: Mercia had once covered the Midlands, but was split, north to south, by Viking conquests. Viking rule was centred on three areas; York, East Anglia and in the Midlands, on the "five boroughs" of Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Lincoln and Stamford. Aethelflaed's marriage strengthened an alliance between Mercia and Alfred's Wessex in the south west and south east, the last Saxon kingdoms resisting a complete Viking victory. Her background meant she had some preparation for the huge challenges ahead. Dr Downham says: "She was given the same education as her brothers, and the crises of her childhood must have given her a schooling in the realities of politics and war. "But Wessex had a tradition the king's wife could not be called a queen. "Mercia had a stronger tradition of women taking part in the life of court and administration. Here Aethelflaed's talents could shine." As her older husband's health declined, Aethelflaed's reputation seems to have grown. Building projects, treaties and even - unusually for a woman - military campaigns, were conducted in her name. An Irish chronicler, observing her skilful handling of troublesome Vikings in Chester, called her "Queen of the Saxons". The greatest family? Dr Downham says: "She does not strike me as a belligerent leader; one of her skills seems to have been as a negotiator. "Women in Anglo-Saxon England were sometimes called 'peaceweavers', because in a masculine, competitive culture it was perhaps easier for women to negotiate a solution. "She negotiates with Vikings and they don't strike me as the easiest people to sit round a table with." With Aethelflaed working - perhaps uneasily - with her brother Edward, who had succeeded Alfred, the Saxons went on the offensive, conducting raids deep into Viking-held lands. The inevitable reprisals saw a vengeful army of York Vikings fall on Mercia. As the invaders burnt and looted, Aethelflaed and Edward gathered their forces and struck at the chosen moment. At the Battle of Wednesfield, probably near Tettenhall in the West Midlands, the northern Vikings were annihilated, shifting the balance of power. When Aethelred died, probably in 911, the nobles accepted his wife should become sole ruler, the Lady of the Mercians. The pace of activity seems to have quickened. Over the next few years numerous towns like Bridgnorth, Tamworth and Stafford were fortified to secure roads and rivers. Dr Downham says one striking fact is something Aethelflaed did not do. "She did not remarry. This is for two likely reasons - a new husband would become her lord with control over her territories. "But also the religious literature of the time said a celibate woman was more manly and therefore she would be taken more seriously. "It also seems her only child, a daughter, did not marry at all." Feeling secure in the west, Aethelflaed made her boldest move, seizing the town of Scergeat - likely Shearsby in Leicestershire. This was too close for comfort for the Vikings of nearby Leicester. In 913 an army was sent to bring the Mercians to heel. It was repelled. The following years saw the Mercian army defeating both Welsh and Viking raiders. The Irish chronicle says "her fame spread in all directions" and "through her own cleverness, made peace with the people of Alba and the Britons [Scotland and Wales]". Then in 917 Aethelflaed struck east at the five boroughs. The Viking stronghold of Derby fell to the Mercians - the army perhaps led in person by Aethelflaed. The next year the previously aggressive Vikings of Leicester - now isolated due to Saxon gains in the south and west - surrendered to the Lady of the Mercians without a fight. Even York, the nerve centre of northern Viking rule, promised to obey her command. So why is Aethelflaed's name not blazoned across British history? Alison Hudson, from the British Library, says: "It's about who wrote the history. The main source for the period, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, comes in different versions. "The most commonly used version was written in Wessex, under the reign of Edward, and it almost writes her out of existence. "While Aethelflaed is subduing the Welsh and Viking raids, taking Derby and Leicester, the Wessex chronicle concentrates entirely on Edward." Most of her achievements are contained within a different version of the chronicle. Ms Hudson says: "This contains something called the Mercian Register, which gives far more credit to Aethelflaed. "Tellingly, records from Ireland and Wales, beyond the reach of an Edward who has designs on Mercia, really big her up." But at the height of her success, tragedy struck. Aethelflaed fell ill. She was taken to Tamworth, where she died on 12 June 918 probably aged 47 or 48. She was buried in a church she had ordered to be built, St Oswald's, in Gloucester. More about Aethelflaed: The warrior queen In an unmatched moment, the succession passed, without opposition, from the mother to her daughter, Aelfwynn. Dr Downham says: "She is unique in Anglo-Saxon England as a woman ruling in her own right and unique in British history in that she passed her power on to her daughter. "This is probably testament to the respect earned by a woman who was key to the founding of England." But it was not to last. Wary of Mercian power, Edward marched north and deposed his niece, Aelfwynn. What happened to her next is unknown, although it has been suggested she might have entered holy orders. Despite the fate of her daughter, Aethelflaed's legacy was still a significant one. Edward's son Aethelstan - Aethelflaed's nephew - had been brought up in the Mercian court and, after Edward died fighting Mercian rebels, Aethelstan was accepted as their king. He also succeeded to the throne of Wessex and, using the lessons learned at Aethelflaed's side, became the first true king of a united England. Dr Downham says: "She never entirely went away, being praised in some medieval chronicles - even if that praise was that she was 'as good as a man'. "And she enjoyed a revival in the reign of Victoria, when female role models, like Boudica, were popular. "And today, perhaps women are again looking for strong female role models, and this anniversary more than previous ones may generate greater interest in the role of women in England's past."

कैसे एक शासक रक्तपिपासु आक्रमणकारियों को हराता है, एक राज्य को सुरक्षित करता है और इंग्लैंड की नींव रखता है-और फिर लगभग इतिहास से लिखा जाता है? एक महिला बनें, इस तरह। उनकी मृत्यु के ठीक 1,100 साल बाद एथेलफ्लेड, लेडी ऑफ द मर्सिअन्स, छाया से उभर रही है।


How The Bridge's heroine became a role model for women with autism

Summary: Saga Noren from the Scandinavian TV crime drama The Bridge has become an unlikely hero. Widely diagnosed by viewers as being on the autistic spectrum, she is lauded not just because she is a leading character with the condition, but - more unusually - because she is a woman with it.

By Lucy TownsendBBC News She is blunt, doesn't understand jokes and struggles to build relationships. She strips down to her underwear to get changed in the office without embarrassment, and asks and answers questions with often excruciating honesty. "Would you like the recipe?" asks her dinner host. "No, thanks, it wasn't tasty," comes her reply. While the writers of The Bridge have never confirmed that Saga has Asperger syndrome - a form of autism - it has been generally assumed to be the case. Sofia Helin, the actress who plays her, has regularly referred to it in interviews. She researched the condition before filming started and has been sent letters and fan mail from people with the condition, as well as from the Swedish Asperger society. But while people have been increasingly exposed to fictional characters with autistic traits in recent years - Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock, or Christopher from Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time - Saga stands out because she is a woman. Autism was once described as a manifestation of an "an extreme male brain" - the theory being that maleness involved a predisposition for mechanistic or logical thinking. Paediatrician Hans Asperger first defined the form of autism which now takes his name after observing boys with regular intelligence and language development, who nevertheless displayed autistic traits. He originally believed that no girls were affected by the syndrome, although clinical evidence later caused him to revise this. But increasing numbers of women are receiving diagnoses as adults. Elisabeth Wiklander was diagnosed with autism in her late 20s. Exhausted by being turned away by doctors, she had packed all the books, articles and folders she had read on the subject in a large bag and unloaded them onto her doctor's desk. "I said, 'I have read all of this. I know I have this condition, please listen to me,'" she says. Wiklander had spent many years being ignored by doctors and psychologists, who couldn't relate her symptoms to the type of autism that they knew. She was professionally successful (she is a cellist in the London Philharmonic Orchestra), she was in a long term relationship, and is articulate. She had learnt to mask many of her more textbook autistic traits. But her case is not unusual. Journalist Laura James received her diagnosis at the age of 46. A married mother-of-four, she had spent her life "always feeling different". She says she had been "written off" as having anorexia (she would often forget to eat), anxiety and sometimes just as being "difficult". Finally this summer a psychologist confirmed what she already knew - that she had adult Asperger syndrome. "I am a woman, I am articulate, I hold eye contact and have the usual social niceties - autism didn't spring to mind," she says. "There are a number of women I have spoken to who have had similar experiences and have been told that they have anxiety or borderline personality disorder, which is really unhelpful. When I finally got my diagnosis I felt like I really knew myself for the first time, it was a relief." What is Asperger syndrome? Source: The National Autistic Society For James some of her most severe symptoms revolve around heightened sensory awareness - she says she can smell which of her children's friends are upstairs when she is at the front door. And while she maintains good working relationships, she finds socialising outside of that bracket "exhausting". Wiklander echoes this: "Socialising made me extremely tired, I would be absolutely drained by going to work and if (my boyfriend) ever had a friend round to our flat for coffee I would hate it - our home was my sanctuary and I couldn't cope after a day of work to have anyone else in it." Both women say they recognise aspects of themselves in Saga, and both welcome her high profile role. When the National Autistic Society (NAS) asked on Twitter during the programme if people liked Saga's character, a lengthy discussion ensued, with a number celebrating the fact that she is a woman. The number of women and girls being diagnosed with autism is increasing, according to the NAS, though they are still thought to be far fewer than males. The way diagnosis has been recorded - often without a note of gender - means that ratios are estimated, though studies and anecdotal evidence point to male/female ratios ranging from 2:1 to 16:1. Carol Povey, director of the NAS's Centre for Autism, says: "That fact that we are getting more women coming to us having been diagnosed as adults must mean that younger girls have been missed. Whereas boys will often have interests in trains, or obvious mechanical things or the planets, some girls will have that too, but many will hyper-focus on animals, or people, or they may become very passive and retreat into a fantasy world. Also often girls' language development is better than boys, which can throw people off track." Girls also learn more quickly how to mask some of their more extreme characteristics, Povey adds. "It's not done purposefully, but through their lives they often become very good at looking at how other women behave and copying it." Robyn Steward, author of The Independent Woman's Handbook to Super Safe Living on the Autistic Spectrum, agrees. "There is a generation that learnt about autism from [the film] Rain Man, now we have a generation learning from Saga, who is a much broader character and female - that has to be a positive thing. She adds: "I was always a creative kid and I lived in a bit of a fantasy world. Some people may think if you do that then you can't have a problem because you have this social imagination, but it's not like that. Girls on the spectrum seem to be able to learn coping mechanisms. You may spend the whole day at school controlling yourself and then come home and have a meltdown because it's been so much effort." Meltdowns became an issue for both Laura James and Elisabeth Wiklander. Dismissed in childhood as tantrums, the continuation of them into adulthood forced them to persevere with doctors. "Sometimes I would just shutdown, other times I would have to scream," says Wiklander. "My body would go into involuntary movements, like spasms. I would cry, sometimes I would vomit. I would often finish a meltdown and have bruises that I had no idea where they came from," she says. "When I finally got to see the right person I was diagnosed almost instantly. I had a completely new context in the world. That's why a better awareness of the different types of autism, and the way it presents in women, is so important." Women and autism Source: The National Autistic Society The Bridge is on BBC Four, on Saturdays from 9pm GMT Listen to Laura James talking about her autism diagnosis on the latest Ouch podcast. For more Disability News, follow BBC Ouch on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to the weekly podcast.

स्कैंडिनेवियाई टीवी अपराध नाटक द ब्रिज से सागा नोरेन एक अप्रत्याशित नायक बन गई हैं। दर्शकों द्वारा ऑटिस्टिक स्पेक्ट्रम पर होने के रूप में व्यापक रूप से निदान किया गया है, उन्हें न केवल इसलिए सराहा जाता है क्योंकि वह इस स्थिति के साथ एक प्रमुख चरित्र है, बल्कि-अधिक असामान्य रूप से-क्योंकि वह इसके साथ एक महिला है।


Why is India's anti-corruption party creating waves?

Summary: An upstart political party led by a leading anti-corruption crusader is creating waves in India by posing a threat to the country's mainstream parties, the Congress and the BJP. As the BBC's Sanjoy Majumder reports from Delhi, it now appears to have caught the public's imagination.

The Aam Admi or (Common Man's Party) is led by Arvind Kejriwal - a former civil servant, Contesting local elections in Delhi, the party was born out of a strong anti-corruption movement that swept India two years ago. "I am Arvind Kejriwal… make sure you vote for the broom." It's a simple message that plays out on Delhi's radio stations every day - part of a surprisingly effective pitch that forms the basis of the campaign of India's newest political party, only a year old. The Aam Admi (Common Man's) Party is fast emerging as a critical player in next month's Delhi state elections. Pre-election surveys suggest that it could upset the calculations of the major contenders, the governing Congress Party and India's main opposition BJP, which see Delhi as critical to its ambitions of winning next year's national elections. "We are not taking on the Congress and the BJP," Mr Kejriwal tells me as I catch up with him in the middle of his campaign. "It's the ordinary people who are taking them on. They're fed up with both parties and now they finally have a choice, an honest party to vote for." 'Delivered so little' The party's campaign runs on a shoestring budget. A cavalcade of tuk-tuks and scooters follow Mr Kejriwal's open jeep as it drives through some of Delhi's poorest neighbourhoods. Party workers emulate their leader and wear white caps with the words "I am a common person," emblazoned on the side. Others hold up the party symbol - a broom, as residents gather by the side of the road. "We've seen so many politicians who've promised so much and delivered so little," says one man. "I'm willing to give him [Arvind Kejriwal] a chance." The Aam Admi Party headquarters operates out of a modest, ramshackle building in the heart of the capital. Inside, volunteers are hard at work, raising funds, drawing up campaign strategies and deploying the party's meagre resources. These are not regular, professional politicians. Lawyers, students, journalists and housewives form its base - middle class Indians disillusioned with the country's politicians, stirred into action by the mass anti-corruption protests two years ago. Those protests were led by Mr Kejriwal and his one-time mentor, Anna Hazare. Supporters come from all over India and even from overseas. "What they're doing here is truly inspirational," says Amit Agarwal, a banker from Hong Kong who has taken a leave of absence to join the campaign. Mr Agarwal is a major donor and helped raise some $200,000 (£120,000) from other expatriate Indians in Hong Kong. The party publishes the names of all its donors, as part of its attempt at transparency. 'Hounded' "There are many Indians here who want to donate funds but are afraid of being hounded by the authorities," says Mr Agarwal. "We [overseas Indians] do not have that problem." Others believe that it is the start of a massive change in Indian politics. "It's the early Facebook or Google of Indian democracy," says Rajan Makhija, a management consultant from Singapore. "I wouldn't miss it for anything." But the party is not short of controversy. Anna Hazare has distanced himself from it, apparently upset with the decision to get into electoral politics. And there are questions over the party's ability to transfer its idealism into sound policies. "They are political greenhorns, with no administrative or political experience," says political commentator Neerja Chowdhury. "It'll be a challenge for them to deliver." As voting day nears, all eyes are on the new challenger. If the Aam Admi Party does well, winning a number of seats, there is little doubt that it will have made a statement and will also serve as a role model. "Young people, idealistic people will think that if Arvind Kejriwal can do this much in a year, so can we," says Ms Chowdhury. And with national elections due next year, that could potentially shift the goalposts of Indian politics.

एक प्रमुख भ्रष्टाचार विरोधी योद्धा के नेतृत्व में एक नवोदित राजनीतिक दल देश की मुख्यधारा की पार्टियों, कांग्रेस और भाजपा के लिए खतरा पैदा करके भारत में लहरें पैदा कर रहा है। जैसा कि बीबीसी के संजय मजूमदार ने दिल्ली से रिपोर्ट किया है, अब ऐसा प्रतीत होता है कि यह जनता की कल्पना पर हावी हो गया है।


A120 crash: Woman killed in Little Bentley lay-by as car hits lorry

Summary: A woman has died when the car she was driving crashed into a lorry in a lay-by.

The victim, in her 30s, is believed to have left the road in a Ford Galaxy on the A120 near Little Bentley at about 01:20 BST on Friday. She died at the scene. Nobody else was injured. The westbound road between the B1035 at Horsley Cross and the A133 at Hare Green was closed while police investigated. Essex Police has appealed for anyone who was in the area at the time to come forward or who may have dash cam footage from before the crash, or saw a Ford Galaxy in the area of Elmstead Market.

एक महिला की उस समय मौत हो गई जब वह जिस कार को चला रही थी वह ले-बाय में एक लॉरी से टकरा गई।


Bannockburn battlefield 1930s time capsule reburied

Summary: A 1930s time capsule found during the restoration of a flagpole at the Bannockburn memorial in Stirlingshire is to be reburied along with new items.

Workers uncovered a newspaper, coins and a medal under the 1870s flagstaff - put there during repair works in 1937. New contributions were included from the current contractors and academics involved in the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn next year. The flagstaff was being repaired in time for the 2014 celebrations. The capsule will be put at the spot where Robert the Bruce allegedly put his standard before night before the battle. It will be buried by David McAllister, project director of the Battle of Bannockburn Project, Alastair Smith, from the National Trust for Scotland, and Rory MacLeod, the grandson of Alexander Aikman OBE, the chairman of the Grangemouth Dockyard Company who made the decision to bury the 1930s time capsule.

स्टर्लिंगशायर में बैनॉकबर्न स्मारक में एक ध्वज स्तंभ के जीर्णोद्धार के दौरान पाए गए 1930 के दशक के समय के कैप्सूल को नई वस्तुओं के साथ फिर से दफनाया जाना है।


Viewpoint: Why India's Chennai has run out of water

Summary: Chennai (formerly Madras), the capital of India's southern Tamil Nadu state, is gaining notoriety as the disaster capital of the world - floods one year, cyclone the next, and drought the year after. But it is not alone. Environmental activist Nityanand Jayaraman explains why.

As I write this, it has rained in Chennai - the first real welcome shower, but one that lasted only 30 minutes. But, still, that has been enough to flood the streets and stall traffic. The irony is that Chennai's vulnerability to floods and its water scarcity have common roots. Blinded by a hurry to grow, the city has paved over the very infrastructures that nurtured water. Between 1980 and 2010, heavy construction in the city meant its area under buildings increased from 47 sq km to 402 sq km. Meanwhile, areas under wetlands declined from 186 to 71.5 sq km. The city is no stranger to drought or heavy rains. The north-east monsoon, which brings most of the water to this region in October and November, is unpredictable. Some years it pours, and in other years, it just fails to show up. Any settlement in the region ought to have been designed for both eventualities - with growth limited not by availability of land but of water. Early agrarian settlements in Chennai and its surrounding districts did exactly this. Shallow, spacious tanks - called erys in Tamil- were carved out on the region's flat coastal plains by erecting bunds with the same earth that was scooped out to deepen them. Essentially, the infrastructure for water to stay and flow was created first; the settlements came later. This agrarian logic valourised open spaces. Each village had vast tracts of land, including water bodies, grazing grounds and wood lots, demarcated as Poromboke or commons. Construction was outlawed in the commons. The three districts of Chennai, Thiruvallur and Kanchipuram alone had more than 6000 erys - some as old as 1,500 years. So rather than transport water over long distances against gravity, early settlers had the technology and good sense to harvest water where it fell. But this faded with the advent of modern technology. As urban logic took root, built-up spaces began to be seen as more valuable than open earth. In fact, one could argue that Chennai's date with "zero water" was made in the 17th Century when it was incorporated as a city by Royal Charter. Born a colony of the British, the city rapidly became a coloniser of the countryside. The British commandeered a small irrigation ery in a village called Puzhal, and vastly expanded its capacity to supply drinking water to the city, in response to the Madras famine of 1876. Renamed the Redhills Reservoir, this was Chennai's first centralised, big-budget drinking water project. For more on the Chennai water crisis: Reliance on a distant water source disconnected residents of the fast urbanising settlement from local water and landscapes. For the urban agenda, this was great as it freed up inner-city water bodies for real estate development. In the 1920s for instance, the ancient 70 acre Mylapore tank was filled up to create what is now a bustling residential and commercial area called T Nagar. That tank was part of a larger complex called the Long Tank that extended nearly 10 km (6.21 miles) to the north. Now all that remains of these tanks are thoroughfares named Spurtank Road and Tank Bund Road. The city has pursued its aspirations to become an economic hub by promoting itself as a major IT and automotive manufacturing centre. In addition to attracting new settlers to Chennai and vastly increasing the pressure on scant resources, these industries have dealt death blows to the region's water infrastructure. Land-use planning today is a far cry from the simple principles that prevailed in medieval Tamil Nadu. Wetlands were off-limits for construction, and only low-density buildings were permitted on lands immediately upstream of tanks. The reason: These lands have to soak up the rainwater before letting it to run to the reservoir. It is this sub-surface water that will flow to the lake as the levels go down with use and time. Unmindful of such common sense, the IT Corridor (a road which houses a large number of IT companies in the city) was built almost entirely on Chennai's precious Pallikaranai marshlands. And the area immediately upstream of Chembarambakkam - the city's largest drinking water tank - has now been converted into an automotive special economic zone (SEZ). Other water bodies have been treated with similar disdain. The Perungudi garbage dump spreads out through the middle of the Pallikaranai marshlands. The Manali marshlands were drained in the 1960s for Tamil Nadu's largest petrochemical refinery. Electricity for the city comes from a cluster of power plants built on the Ennore Creek, a tidal wetland that has been converted into a dump for coal-ash. The Pallavaram Big Tank, which is perhaps more than 1,000 years old, has over the last two decades been bisected by a high-speed road with the remainder serving as a garbage dump for the locality. In Chennai, the water utility supplies are barely a fourth of the total water demand. The remainder is supplied by a powerful network of commercial water suppliers who are sucking resources in the region dry. Along the periphery of Chennai, and far into the hinterland, the land is dotted with communities whose water and livelihoods have been forcibly taken to feed the city. The water crises in these localities desiccated by the city never make it to the news. The world won't change unless we replace capitalism with other ways of doing business that are not premised on the exploitation of nature and people. Our dominant economic model, with its blind faith in technology, is doomed. Modern economy views open, un-built land as useless. It believes that value can be extracted from such lands only by digging, drilling, filling, mining, paving or building on it. Degrading land use change is colliding with climate change in all the modern cities of the world, exposing their vulnerabilities. Chennai's struggles with water - be it flooding or scarcity - cannot be addressed unless the city re-examines its values, and how it treats its land and water. Further growth and more buildings are not an option - it needs to actively shrink in size instead. By ushering in policies to promote land-friendly economies in the state's hinterland, the government can make it easier for people to migrate out of the city in a planned and feasible way. Although difficult, this would be less painful than what would happen if they were to wait for nature to do the job. Nityanand Jayaraman is a writer and social activist who lives in Chennai.

चेन्नई (पूर्व में मद्रास), भारत के दक्षिणी तमिलनाडु राज्य की राजधानी, दुनिया की आपदा राजधानी के रूप में कुख्याति प्राप्त कर रही है-एक साल बाढ़, अगले साल चक्रवात और अगले साल सूखा। लेकिन यह अकेले नहीं है। पर्यावरण कार्यकर्ता नित्यानंद जयरामन बताते हैं कि क्यों।


Birmingham New Street: Academy set up for local jobs

Summary: An academy has been set up in Birmingham to help local people get jobs on the New Street station redevelopment.

According to Network Rail, the New Street project is worth £400m to the construction industry and will create up to 1,000 jobs while work is ongoing. The new Birmingham Gateway Construction Academy will provide training for potential and existing workers. The £598m station revamp is due to be finished in 2015. Academy training will take place at South Birmingham College and at Birmingham Gateway Project's offices. The project team is working closely with Birmingham City Council to "open up" job opportunities for local people, Network Rail said.

न्यू स्ट्रीट स्टेशन पुनर्विकास पर स्थानीय लोगों को नौकरी दिलाने में मदद करने के लिए बर्मिंघम में एक अकादमी की स्थापना की गई है।


The Koreans who televise themselves eating dinner

Summary: How do you fancy eating your dinner at home in front of a webcam and letting thousands of people watch? If they like the way you eat, they will pay you money - maybe a few hundred dollars a night... a good salary for doing what you would do anyway. This is happening now in South Korea.

By Stephen EvansBBC News, Seoul It's often said that if you want to see the future look at how technology is emerging in perhaps the most connected country on the planet. The food phenomenon is called mukbang - a combination of the Korean word for eating (muk-ja) and broadcasting (bang-song). I have seen this future in the eighth-floor apartment of Lee Chang-hyun in Seoul (pictured at work, above). At around midnight, he goes online with a couple of friends and performs his meal, spicy raw squid one day, crab the next. "Perform" is the right word. He is extravagant in his gestures, flaunting the food to his computer camera to tantalise the viewers. He eats noisily and that's part of the show. He's invested in a good microphone to capture the full crunch and slurp. This is not a private affair. Some 10,000 people watch him eating per day, he says. They send a constant stream of messages to his computer and he responds verbally (by talking) and orally (by eating, very visibly and noisily). If the audience like the performance, they allocate him what are called "star balloons" and each of these means a payment to him and to the internet television channel on which he performs. He is coy about how much he earns but the BBC has estimated, by noting the number of star balloons on his screen, that it would run into several hundred dollars for a two-hour stint. His performance-eating is part of a phenomenon which says something about the way society is changing and about the way television is changing - in Korea today, and perhaps, in your own country, tomorrow. Lee Chang-hyun's show, because that's what it is, is on an internet channel called Afreeca (short for "Any FREE broadCasting"). This site lets people stream their own live video to others - many others. In effect, it's a TV channel without all the paraphernalia and cost of a TV channel. Those who perform, like Lee Chang-hyun or BJ Termin (in the video above) are known as broadcast jockeys. What's the appeal of watching other people eat, and what's the appeal of watching them remotely from your own computer screen? Is it a kind of voyeurism, food porn, perhaps? Lee Chang-hyun calls himself an avatar. Viewers see themselves in him, so he thinks he eats to give them vicarious pleasure: "In Korea, for women especially, the figure is quite important. There are dishes which are quite fattening, so me eating those foods for them provides them with a bit of satisfaction," he says. But to me this doesn't seem very convincing. The point of eating is eating and "I eat so you don't have to" doesn't seem to add up. The appeal, rather, may be in companionship - albeit remote companionship over the internet. It feels like a dinner party where the diners are talking from different rooms. "They like to see me eat but we also have lots of conversations," says Lee Chang-hyun. "We talk about everything. I even give them counselling about problems they might have so we have a real relationship." It may or may not be a real relationship of our times - a relationship between remote people, far apart, each in their own apartments, atomised in the mega-city. Lee Chang-hyun earns money because he performs well. He presents a constant stream of observation and light-hearted remarks. He might get up and dance to a song that's playing in his headphones. He sings for his supper. He's not just a slob who slumps in front of his meal and shovels the food in on a webcam - though these also exist as part of the phenomenon). He is good-looking and slim, despite all the big meals. He says he does extreme sports and has the right metabolism for shovelling food in without putting pounds on. So the money clicks in. He sees the symbols signifying a donation on his screen - but he says it's not the money that motivates him. "I'm actually hanging out with my viewers. In a way, it's a promise, a pact that I have with them. I hang out with them. I'm having fun with them, so in that sense I don't consider it a job." Korean recipes from BBC Food But it's the most brutal form of television performance. Where stars in conventional television negotiate contracts and get paid with certainty for the duration of the contract, his pay goes up and down by the second depending on how the viewers react that moment. They have the "pay" button in their hands. If he is on a bad day, they don't click. If he's on a roll, they do. It's not a remuneration system likely to appeal to the big-name presenters in the conventional television industry. And the idea of remote companionship down a webcam might depress those who believe in human warmth by direct contact. But both may be the future. South Korea is very tech'd-up. Everyone seems to be online all the time. In that sense, it is the future. If Koreans are having cyber dinner at midnight today, sure as raw squid is raw squid, you will be tomorrow. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

आप घर पर वेबकैम के सामने रात का खाना कैसे खाना पसंद करते हैं और हजारों लोगों को देखने देते हैं? अगर उन्हें आपके खाने का तरीका पसंद है, तो वे आपको पैसे देंगे-शायद कुछ सौ डॉलर प्रति रात... एक अच्छा वेतन जो आप वैसे भी करेंगे। अब दक्षिण कोरिया में ऐसा हो रहा है।


Borders speed camera fire bid investigated

Summary: An attempt has been made to set light to a speed camera located in the Scottish Borders - the latest in a long line of such incidents in the region.

A tyre was placed over the device, on the A1 at Lamberton, and set alight on Sunday night. Firefighters were called out shortly after 22:20 to deal with the latest incident. They put out the flames, which had by then spread to the surrounding undergrowth. The Borders has been the site of numerous attempts to destroy speed cameras. Earlier this year police were investigating a string of incidents in which a saw was used to attack the devices. The cameras have also been set on fire on at least 19 occasions since 2004.

स्कॉटिश सीमाओं में स्थित एक गति कैमरे पर प्रकाश डालने का प्रयास किया गया है-इस क्षेत्र में ऐसी घटनाओं की एक लंबी कतार में नवीनतम।


Vote Leave chief Dominic Cummings hits out over Analytica claims

Summary: You couldn't make it up. On the day that the prime minister finally got the green light from her EU counterparts to move onto the next stage of the EU saga, a new blast was fired in an ongoing Brexit battle at home.

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter For the past week it has been impossible to ignore the controversies around Cambridge Analytica, with the excruciating, watch from behind the sofa, undercover sting on its boss, and the public relations disaster for Facebook, one of the biggest companies in the world. What however, does that have to do with Brexit? Well, part of the suspicion and speculation around that story has touched on the edges of Vote Leave, the official Brexit campaign that was backed by cabinet ministers, that masterminded the EU referendum victory. Whatever you think of the result, whatever side you were on, the noise about data mining for political purposes, unease about what was being done behind the scenes by all politicians, it has raised questions again about whether Cambridge Analytica did any work for Vote Leave. They have always strongly denied that claim, which has been made many times before. But in advance of more allegations expected to emerge in the next 48 hours, the former campaign chief, Dominic Cummings, has written in huge detail about the accusations they are facing, providing documents that appear to suggest the key whistleblower, Chris Wylie, actually tried to sell his services to the Vote Leave campaign but was rejected. Mr Cummings's blog, which is obviously designed to get Vote Leave's version of events out before more claims emerge, is trenchant, and in classic Cummings style. He writes: "Up against tough competition, the whole story is the most loony accusation I've ever faced in 20 years in politics. "In normal times, such a loony story would get no play but these aren't normal times. A powerful set of people will do anything to try to shift public opinion in order that they can overturn the referendum." He says the allegations being made are "factually wrong, hopelessly confused, or nonsensical". He again, rejects any suggestions that Vote Leave was connected to Cambridge Analytica. It's inevitable that there will be a strong pushback against his version. Those who have been digging for details on all of this for many months will now of course pore over every word in his sprawling account of events. There may well be new evidence which emerges in the coming days that contradicts this attempt from Vote Leave to frame the arguments. Whatever you decide to believe about Cambridge Analytica, it is no secret that Vote Leave used huge amounts of data which was central to how they targeted their campaigning. Mr Cummings is disparaging in his blog about the alleged "superpowers" attributed to Cambridge Analytica, saying they are no better than many other "snake-oil" salesman operating in the field of political marketing.

आप इसे ठीक नहीं कर सके। जिस दिन प्रधान मंत्री को अंततः अपने यूरोपीय संघ के समकक्षों से यूरोपीय संघ की गाथा के अगले चरण में जाने के लिए हरी झंडी मिली, उस दिन घर पर चल रही ब्रेक्सिट लड़ाई में एक नया धमाका हुआ।


'We are Generation Z, we're misunderstood but this is who we are'

Summary: Newsbeat has commissioned the BBC's biggest ever survey of the attitudes of 16 to 22-year-olds and found a generation wanting to fight back against a perception from older people that they're "lazy" and "social media obsessed".

By Nicholas RotherhamNewsbeat reporter In fact, it's a group which believes it prioritises family and education over going out and the internet. It's a generation more optimistic about its future than older generations think it should be - and one which sees itself as hard-working and creative. We've talked to four people from Generation Z to see what they believe, what drives them and what they fear. Charlotte Danks says young people need an opportunity Charlotte Danks, who's from Newquay in Cornwall, says she decided to start her own business selling cut-price food to locals after being laid off repeatedly. The 22-year-old says she always wanted a career where she could help her community - but it hasn't been easy. "I've had a lot of stick," she says. "I've had people spit in my face. I've had people throw products at me. "But at the end of the day I'm helping my community and I've got a lot of support behind me." Charlotte's local community describes her as "a godsend". #GenZ Charlotte opened her first 25p Affordable Foods store in Newquay but now has others in St Austell, Bude, Bodmin and Truro. She says older generations who think her generation is lazy are wrong. "If our generation's lazy, then every generation is lazy. We all want something, but we're all fighting for the same thing. "I think people my age need to get more of an opportunity and a chance to prove ourselves." Ife Grillo says Generation Z is worried about what the future will bring Eighteen-year-old Ife, from Hackney in east London, was a member of England's winning team at last year's World Schools Debating Championships in Germany and used to be the youth MP for Shoreditch. Despite his achievements, he says he still suffers from anxiety. And he says many people in Generation Z have mental health issues because they're unsure what the future will bring. "We grew up in a generation which felt really insecure for a number of reasons. "We're constantly told things are going badly. So you're aware there's a housing crisis, you're aware you're going to be in debt and you have no idea how you're going to find success. "I feel like I can't plan my life." Declan says younger generations are happy to live at home Declan James is from Selby in North Yorkshire, is in the merchant navy and lives with his mum and dad, his gran and granddad and his girlfriend. His grandfather has Alzheimer's and he takes him to a singing group which helps him cope with the disease. Declan's grandad has Alzheimer's but he won't let it change his relationship with him #GenZ "It cheers him up and puts him in a good mood. It's something he enjoys doing and I don't know whether you'd call it a coping strategy, but all we know is that he likes it, so we'll do it. "[But] the banter is still there and it's great to grow up with that. I'd like to think of myself as a good person and it comes from the whole family unit." Jack says young people are more accepting when it comes to gender Jack Raynsford is a cosplay enthusiast from Surrey and says they became Jack just under three years ago. "I think what non-binary means to me, is distancing myself from the expectations. So if you're male you should be one way, if you're female you should be another. "It's me going, 'I'm not either of those. I don't want to be either of those. I'm just going to be here in the middle being me.' "Our expectations and our roles of, 'This is what women do, this is what men do. We can't go outside that' is incredibly limiting. "It's quite useful to have this shift and this understanding of non-binary genders so people can really think about what their gender means to them and what makes them happy, rather than what they're expected to do." The Ipsos research is based on replies from 3,007 people - 1,003 from Generation Z, 660 people in Generation Y, 667 in Generation X and 677 baby boomers. Find us on Instagram at BBCNewsbeat and follow us on Snapchat, search for bbc_newsbeat

न्यूजबीट ने 16 से 22 साल के युवाओं के दृष्टिकोण का बीबीसी का अब तक का सबसे बड़ा सर्वेक्षण शुरू किया है और पाया है कि एक पीढ़ी वृद्ध लोगों की इस धारणा के खिलाफ लड़ना चाहती है कि वे "आलसी" और "सोशल मीडिया के प्रति जुनूनी" हैं।


General Election: Ex-Labour Clwyd MPs bid for Commons return

Summary: Two former Welsh Labour MPs are hoping to return to Westminster in June as the party confirms its list of 40 general election candidates in Wales.

Chris Ruane will return to fight the Vale of Clwyd seat he lost in 2015 after 18 years in the Commons. Gareth Thomas will contest Clwyd West, which he represented from 1997 to 2005. The Conservatives currently hold both seats, being defended by James Davies and David Jones. All 40 Welsh MPs - 25 of them Labour - will seek re-election.

दो पूर्व वेल्श लेबर सांसद जून में वेस्टमिंस्टर लौटने की उम्मीद कर रहे हैं क्योंकि पार्टी वेल्स में 40 आम चुनाव उम्मीदवारों की अपनी सूची की पुष्टि करती है।


Woman found dead at Herefordshire house is named

Summary: A woman who was found dead at her home has been named.

West Mercia Police was called to reports that a woman was in cardiac arrest at a property in Pembridge, Herefordshire on Friday. Ann Turner, 82, died at the scene. A 56-year-old man, arrested on suspicion of murder, remains detained under the Mental Health Act, the force added. It said it is not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk Related Internet Links West Mercia Police

एक महिला जो अपने घर पर मृत पाई गई थी, उसका नाम लिया गया है।


Support service launched for people with mental illness

Summary: People with mental illnesses in Wales who come into contact with the criminal justice system will be able to access a new support service from Thursday.

The charity Hafal has launched 'Access to Justice' to provide a single point of contact for people with mental illness, probation officers and police. Its chief executive Alun Thomas said the project would support "some of the most vulnerable". That includes people accused of a crime as well as victims and witnesses.

वेल्स में मानसिक बीमारियों वाले लोग जो आपराधिक न्याय प्रणाली के संपर्क में आते हैं, वे गुरुवार से एक नई सहायता सेवा का उपयोग कर सकेंगे।


Flint RNLI lifeboat crew rescues sheep stuck in mud

Summary: A coastguard lifeboat and crew have carried out an unusual rescue mission - helping to free a sheep trapped in the mud.

The struggling animal was found by a member of the public in a gutter on the banks of the River Dee in Flintshire. It took more than five crew members from the Flint RNLI and lifeboat assistance, whose stations were close to the river, to free the sheep. It was delivered safely back to its farmer just after 11:00 GMT.

एक तटरक्षक जीवन नौका और चालक दल ने एक असामान्य बचाव अभियान चलाया है-कीचड़ में फंसी एक भेड़ को बचाने में मदद करना।


Fire in cars on Jersey driveway prompts home evacuation

Summary: Two homes in St Brelade were evacuated when a fire broke out overnight in two cars parked on a driveway.

Jersey Fire and Rescue Service watch commander Chris Love said the two cars had been well alight, close to neighbouring properties. He praised the quick actions of those involved, who called the fire service at the earliest opportunity and immediately evacuated the homes. Mr Love said the blaze had been brought under control very quickly. He said both properties had been inspected but there was no internal smoke or fire damage. Jersey's fire service said: "There were no suspicious circumstances and it would appear that the fire started from an electrical fault within the engine compartment of one of the vehicles."

सेंट ब्रेलेड में दो घरों को खाली करा लिया गया जब एक ड्राइववे पर खड़ी दो कारों में रात भर आग लग गई।


Brazil to invest $1.2bn in Rio de Janeiro's favelas

Summary: Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff has announced an investment of more than $1.2bn (£770m) in favelas, or shanty towns, in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Ms Rousseff said the money would be spent improving three areas - Rocinha, Jacarezinho and the Lins complex. They will be integrated with the rest of the city as Rio prepares to host the 2016 Olympic Games. Sewage and water facilities are scarce in most Brazilian favelas and access to utilities is poor. The investments are part of the Growth Acceleration Programme (PAC) launched by Ms Rousseff's predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Ms Rousseff has implemented the $742bn second phase, PAC 2, which focuses on six major initiatives - "better city"; "citizen community"; "my house, my life"; "water and light for all"; transportation and energy. Brazil will also host next year's football World Cup.

ब्राजील की राष्ट्रपति डिल्मा रूसेफ ने रियो डी जनेरियो शहर में फावेला या झुग्गी कस्बों में $1.2bn (£770m) से अधिक के निवेश की घोषणा की है।


Scotland's heroes: The 74 Victoria Cross winners from WW1

Summary: During World War One, 627 people were awarded the Victoria Cross - the highest award for gallantry for any Commonwealth soldier. Amongst them were 74 Scots. As we pause this week to remember all of those who fought in the Great War and every conflict since, the stories of those VC winners and their heroics are as incredible as ever.

By Graham FraserBBC Scotland Robert McBeath, like so many other young men from across Britain, in the early years of WW1, was keen to sign up and do his bit. The Kinlochbervie teenager lied about his age and joined The Seaforth Highlanders. In November, 1917 - a month before his 19th birthday - Lance Corporal McBeath charged a "nest" of German machine guns in Cambrai, armed with a Lewis Gun and revolver. With the help of a tank, he managed to put five of the deadly weapons out of action and captured 33 soldiers. His actions won him the Victoria Cross. McBeath survived the war, and moved to Canada to start a new life as a police officer. In a tragic irony, a man who survived the bullets and shells of the trenches, was shot dead while making an arrest on the streets of Vancouver. He was just 23. McBeath is the youngest of 74 Scottish Victoria Cross winners from WW1. All of them will be remembered as part of the Scotland's War project, which highlights the stories of those who fought for their country a century ago. Ahead of the release of a digital archive later this year, one of the initiative's researchers Alistair McEwen has uncovered the stories of the VC winners and shared his work with the BBC. He said: "The research is a work in progress. Many of the men were from 'humble' backgrounds and I wondered how they coped with the fame their awards brought. •Read Alistair McEwen's research on all 74 Scottish Victoria Cross winners from the Great War (PDF) "It is also interesting to speculate what those who died might have gone on to achieve in their lifetime. "We think that the stories are inspirational and we hope they may inspire the present generation." From a footballer to pipers, to men who were born in Scotland and then fought for their new countries of Canada and New Zealand, every one of Scotland's Victoria Cross winners demonstrated remarkable heroism. One of the most famous VC winners featured in the Scotland's War archive is Daniel Laidlaw, who was known as the "Piper of Loos". On 25 September 1915, soldiers of The King's Own Scottish Borderers were on the front line as the British used poison gas to attack the enemy. But the wind changed, and the gas came back into the trenches of the Scots. Laidlaw's response is legendary. He climbed over the top and marched into No Man's Land, playing his pipes, stirring the troops into action. His Victoria Cross citation states: "The effect of his splendid example was immediate and the company dashed to the assault. Piper Laidlaw continued playing his pipes even after he was wounded and until the position was won." As you may expect, the majority of Scots who won the Victoria Cross in WW1 were young, with many in their 20s. The oldest Scottish recipient from the conflict was John Ripley of The Black Watch. At the age of 47, the corporal led a platoon charge in the trenches at Rue du Bois and "continued to hold the position until all his men had fallen and he himself was badly wounded in the head". Ripley also won the long service medal for his service in the army. He died in 1933, after falling off a ladder in St Andrews. It wasn't just the brave men in the trenches of France and Belgium who were recognised with Victoria Crosses. Seaman George Samson was awarded his for his actions at Gallipoli. The Carnoustie man, under heavy fire, helped the wounded during the landings in Turkey. His citation adds: "He was hit over and over again, and when he returned to England, his body still contained a dozen pieces of shrapnel." Samson survived the war and died of pneumonia in 1923 while serving with the Merchant Navy. On Remembrance Sunday, Bob Samson will lay a wreath in the Victoria Cross winner's memory at a ceremony in Carnoustie. Scotland's War Source - Ewen Cameron, Professor of Scottish History at University of Edinburgh George Samson was the cousin of Bob's father, who was also called George. Bob and his family did not know about his relative's heroics until ten years ago, when they discovered his story in a newspaper clipping. The 88-year-old retired joiner said: "We are quite proud of it. He was a very brave man. There were 17 bullets in him. It is unimaginable. They were all very brave men. "I also feel there was an awful lot more people out there that did things like that but were never seen. "There couldn't have just been the handful that got VCs. Many more who also deserved the VC are never talked about." Ewen Cameron, Professor of Scottish History at Edinburgh University, added: "The VC has retained its prestige. There were VCs in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I find our general perception of WW1 to be quite interesting. We tend to use words like waste and sacrifice. We tend to see WW1 as a pointless exercise in mass slaughter. "Our image of the war is seen through the lens of World War Two. While we can see the moral clarity of the fight against Nazism, it is more difficult to appreciate the moral clarity people had at the beginning of WW1. People were genuinely shocked at German aggression." One hundred years ago, ordinary men such as Robert McBeath, Daniel Laidlaw, John Ripley and George Samson defended Britain against that aggression with extraordinary acts of bravery. As commemorations of WW1 continue over the next four years, they - like thousands and thousands of others - will be remembered. •The Scotland's War project is working with the people of Scotland and the Scottish diaspora community to build a social and military history of Scotland throughout the period of the Great War. Members of the initiative want to hear the stories of your family from WW1. You can contact them by email.

प्रथम विश्व युद्ध के दौरान, 627 लोगों को विक्टोरिया क्रॉस से सम्मानित किया गया-किसी भी राष्ट्रमंडल सैनिक के लिए वीरता के लिए सर्वोच्च पुरस्कार। उनमें से 74 स्कॉट्स थे। जैसा कि हम इस सप्ताह महान युद्ध और उसके बाद के प्रत्येक संघर्ष में लड़ने वाले सभी लोगों को याद करने के लिए रुकते हैं, उन वीसी विजेताओं और उनकी वीरता की कहानियां हमेशा की तरह अविश्वसनीय हैं।


Rare view of Vatican justice in secrets trial

Summary: Next to St Peter's Basilica, two Swiss Guards stood underneath an arch. One carried a sword, the other a spear. The Vatican had evidently calculated that two guards familiar with medieval weaponry would be enough to deter a raid.

By James ReynoldsBBC News, Vatican City At the very least, they might be able to duel assailants into a standoff until reinforcements arrived. The guards allowed us into the heart of Vatican City, for a trial that has gripped Italians for weeks. We walked past the Casa Santa Marta, the anonymous-looking guesthouse which doubles as Pope Francis's home. A single Swiss Guard stood at the front door. The Vatican's tribunal building is in the same square. "No mobile phones, no satellite phones, no transmitters," a Vatican official joked - as if we might try to smuggle them in. He led us towards two rows of plastic chairs at the back of a wood-panelled courtroom on the ground floor. The coat of arms of Pope Pius XI was engraved on to the ceiling, flanked by four chandeliers. A crucifix hung on a panel behind the judges' bench - a coincidental reminder for the devout that Jesus Christ was himself condemned by a questionable judicial verdict. Vatican secrets This trial began in November 2015. The Vatican accuses three officials - Monsignor Lucio Vallejo Balda, his former assistant Nicola Maio, and public relations consultant Francesca Chaouqui - of leaking classified documents from a reform commission set up by Pope Francis. The Vatican also accuses two Italian journalists - Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi - of soliciting the leaked documents. The crimes carry a sentence of up to eight years in prison. The leaks concern alleged financial mismanagement in the Vatican - just as the Pope seeks to enact administrative reforms. The defendants dispute the charges. The two journalists question the right of a foreign court to try them for what they consider to be standard journalistic practice - obtaining information from those in power. The trial has been marked by some unusual allegations. Mgr Vallejo says that his co-defendant, Francesca Chaouqui, seduced him in a hotel room in Florence in 2014. He said that the hotel would be able to confirm that it found her night-dress, which he called a "babydoll", in his room. Ms Chaouqui has denied sleeping with the priest, and has questioned his sexual orientation. So it was with some interest that we awaited their arrival in court. The priest arrived first. "I'm very well," Mgr Vallejo told reporters cheerfully. "I'm relaxing! I've had eight months off!" Francesca Chaouqui walked in shortly afterwards. She's expecting a child with her husband and is now close to giving birth. The court arranged an armchair and a pillow for her next to the defendants' bench. She looked for a brief moment in Mgr Vallejo's direction, but did not interact with him. Nicola Maio, another defendant, sat on a bench between them. He dabbed his forehead with a neatly folded tissue. The two remaining defendants, journalists Nuzzi and Fittipaldi, exercised their right not to show up. A Vatican police officer, armed with a pistol, took his place at the back of the court. We all rose for the entry of the four judges. Each wore a black gown and white ruffles. There are no juries in the Vatican. The judges decide the verdict themselves. Perfect punctuation Some countries' judicial systems take pride in functional settings and gripping examinations. But the Vatican gives the opposite impression. The court's decor and its officials' robes were suitably dazzling. But the examination of witnesses appeared designed to be as dry and repetitive as possible. During the three-and-a-half hour session, the court heard from four witnesses - an official at the Vatican's economy ministry, a doctor who works at the Vatican, a priest and an IT engineer. The first three examinations followed the same procedure: a prosecution or defence lawyer would ask a question, the witness would answer, the judges would jump in, often taking over the examination altogether. After each short exchange, the tribunal's presiding judge, Giuseppe Dalla Torre, would dictate to the court stenographer his own summary of what was said. He took particular care over punctuation. "Insert a comma here, then a full stop," he would routinely instruct the stenographer. At the end of each witness's testimony, an official sitting next to the stenographer would read back to the court the chief judge's summary in full. So everything tended to be said or heard three times, causing some exasperation in the public gallery. Birdsong The five defence lawyers, each representing a single defendant, were given their chance to interrogate witnesses. But the geography of the court did not favour them. Their bench was near the back, meaning that they had to direct their questions to the back of each witness's head. The three defendants in court each behaved differently. Ms Chaouqui spent much of the session getting up to whisper into her lawyer's ear. Nicola Maio made notes on a carefully folded piece of paper. Mgr Vallejo spent much of his time reacting theatrically to the witnesses' testimony. He appeared to be delighted any time he caught the eye of any of the reporters. As the session went into the early evening, we could hear birdsong from the Vatican gardens outside. Towards the end, the court heard from an expert who had retrieved messages from the defendants' mobile phones and laptops. Judge Dalla Torre admitted that he was not a technical expert. "What's that?" he asked, when the witness started talking about cloud storage. Finally the judge decided it was time to stop. After all, the stenographer needed a rest.

सेंट पीटर्स बेसिलिका के बगल में, दो स्विस गार्ड एक मेहराब के नीचे खड़े थे। एक के पास तलवार थी, दूसरे के पास भाला था। वेटिकन ने स्पष्ट रूप से गणना की थी कि मध्ययुगीन हथियारों से परिचित दो गार्ड एक छापे को रोकने के लिए पर्याप्त होंगे।


Article 370: India's move on Kashmir will fuel resentment

Summary: For many Kashmiris, the special status afforded to Jammu and Kashmir by Article 370 of the Indian constitution reflects the different means by which, and basis on which, the princely state became part of India in late 1947.

By Andrew WhiteheadFormer BBC India correspondent It was the result of an accommodation all those years ago between the government of India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Kashmir's political leaders. India's BJP-led government has now unilaterally torn up that special dispensation. It's the biggest change in Kashmir's constitutional status since the 1950s. In practical terms, it doesn't mean all that much. The provisions of Article 370 have been greatly diluted over the decades. Jammu and Kashmir has its own constitution and its own flag, but otherwise no greater autonomy than any other Indian state. A provision linked to Article 370 prevents outsiders buying property in the state. If that measure is also rescinded, as seems to be Delhi's intention, this may prompt fears of demographic change in the Kashmir valley - though there is unlikely to be much immediate impact. It's the symbolic importance of the Indian government's move that matters most. In repeated election manifestos, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pledged to scrap Kashmir's special status. It says full integration with the rest of India would promote development, and insists that there's no reason to treat Jammu and Kashmir differently either because it has a Muslim majority or because it is claimed by Pakistan. Narendra Modi's emphatic election victory in May has made it possible for the BJP to act on key Hindu nationalist demands such as the rescinding of Kashmir's special status. The move will be enthusiastically welcomed by the party's rank-and-file. But the measures taken in the run-up to the announcement demonstrate Delhi's concern about how the news will be received in Kashmir. Additional Indian troops were sent there, tourists and Hindu pilgrims were told to leave, schools and colleges were ordered to close, the internet and mobile networks were largely cut off, restrictions were placed on freedom of movement and assembly, and several mainstream Kashmiri politicians were placed under what amounts to house arrest. Alongside the rescinding of special status, the Indian government has announced that Jammu and Kashmir will no longer be a state but have the lesser status of a union territory - and the sparsely populated region of Ladakh will be split off to become a separate union territory. That will attract a great deal of support in Jammu and in Ladakh but will be deeply resented in the Kashmir Valley. India's most restless and disaffected region may well become still more volatile.

कई कश्मीरियों के लिए, भारतीय संविधान के अनुच्छेद 370 द्वारा जम्मू और कश्मीर को दिया गया विशेष दर्जा उन विभिन्न साधनों को दर्शाता है जिनके द्वारा और जिसके आधार पर, 1947 के अंत में रियासत भारत का हिस्सा बनी।


Helvellyn Christmas Day climb to check weather

Summary: Christmas Day will be business as usual for one Lake District Ranger - a climb to the summit of one of England's highest mountains.

One of Jon Bennett's daily tasks is to check conditions on top of Helvellyn. He takes turns with fellow fell-top weather assessor, Jason Taylor, to scale the 3,114ft (950m) peak and post reports on wind speed and temperature. Details are available through the Weatherline service, either online or via telephone. The assessors carry about 16lb (8kg) of equipment and expect to make the ascent in two hours. New technology allows them to post their reports and pictures online as soon as they have returned from the mountain top. The Weatherline service has operated for 36 years and is used by more than half a million people each year.

क्रिसमस का दिन एक लेक डिस्ट्रिक्ट रेंजर के लिए हमेशा की तरह व्यवसाय होगा-इंग्लैंड के सबसे ऊंचे पहाड़ों में से एक के शिखर पर चढ़ाई।


Supermoon lights up night skies around the world

Summary: Skywatchers around the world have enjoyed stunning views of this month's Supermoon, when the Moon appears larger and brighter.

The phenomenon happens when the celestial satellite reaches its closest point to Earth - known as a perigee - and is on the opposite side of Earth to the sun. This month's supermoon - the third and final one of the year - is known as the Flower Moon because of its occurrence in Spring. All images subject to copyright.

दुनिया भर के स्काईवॉचर्स ने इस महीने के सुपरमून के आश्चर्यजनक दृश्यों का आनंद लिया है, जब चंद्रमा बड़ा और चमकीला दिखाई देता है।


Chinese New Year: Pigs, dragons and pandas on England's streets

Summary: Thousands of people took to the streets in England to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Tuesday may have been the official start of the Year of the Pig but most areas saved their events until Sunday. Flying dragons and dancing lions paraded through city centres including in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Newcastle. In a drizzly London, performers took part in what organisers claim is the biggest celebration outside China. All images subject to copyright.

चीनी नव वर्ष मनाने के लिए इंग्लैंड में हजारों लोग सड़कों पर उतर आए।


Deer costs: The economics of Scotland's deer

Summary: There has been fresh debate over the culling of red deer in Scotland. One estate owner has said there were now too few mature stags, while Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has rejected suggestions of the animals' demise. A recent SNH report assessed the economic benefits and costs of Scotland's red deer. Here are some of its headline figures:

Deer numbers There are estimated to be between 360,000 and 400,000 red deer. Also, 200,000 to 350,000 roe deer, 25,000 sika and as many as 2,000 fallow. Economic worth Deer stalking is thought to generate £105m-a-year for the UK economy with £70.4m of that money remaining in Scotland. Clients of sporting estates can expect to pay up to £500 to shoot a stag and £100 for a hind. It has also been estimated that a total of 2,520 jobs were associated with deer management. Impact on forestry According to the SNH report, studies have suggested that deer browsing on sitka spruce can affect how long it takes the trees to grow. Trees damaged by deer can take about a year longer to grow in height than those that have not been browsed on. Much longer delays have been recorded on other species, the report said. It has also detailed how Forestry Commission Scotland manages about 1,630 acres (660,000 ha) of forestry and that in 2009/10 the cost of forest protection in Scotland, which mostly involved efforts to control deer, ran to £10.5m. Road accidents It has been estimated that in Europe as a whole between 500,000 and one million traffic accidents involving deer happen each year. Within the UK, between 42,500 and 74,000 deer-related collisions occur every year resulting in about £17m of material damage. Up to 700 of these accidents involve injuries to drivers or passengers. For Scotland, SNH has assessed that the total cost of material damage and human injury to be £9.4m. Urban shift Deer are increasingly becoming established within urban areas in the UK, according to the report. One of the reasons for this has been the spread of villages, towns and cities into historic and current deer range. However, roe deer have become well established in the centres of cities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh, raising the risk of collisions with traffic and damage to gardens and cemeteries. The report suggested that the physical condition of deer in urban areas was poorer than that of animals living in more natural habitats. Urban deer were also at a greater risk of dog attacks and their young being removed from mothers after people wrongly believing they have been orphaned. The cost to the Scottish SPCA to go to the aid of deer injured in dog attacks or taken away from their mothers has been estimated to be £12,000-a-year.

स्कॉटलैंड में लाल हिरणों को मारने पर नई बहस हुई है। एक एस्टेट मालिक ने कहा है कि अब बहुत कम परिपक्व हिरण हैं, जबकि स्कॉटिश नेचुरल हेरिटेज (एस. एन. एच.) ने जानवरों के मरने के सुझावों को खारिज कर दिया है। हाल ही में एस. एन. एच. की एक रिपोर्ट में स्कॉटलैंड के लाल हिरणों के आर्थिक लाभ और लागत का आकलन किया गया है। यहाँ इसके कुछ प्रमुख आंकड़े दिए गए हैंः


Mashudur Choudhury: Serial liar and jihadist

Summary: A Portsmouth man accused of trying to join Islamist fighters in Syria has become the first person in the UK to be convicted of a terrorist offence relating to the conflict. A jury at Kingston Crown Court found Mashudur Choudhury guilty of preparing for acts of terrorism after a two-week trial. But what exactly was Choudhury up to - and why does this conviction matter?

Dominic CascianiHome affairs correspondent@BBCDomCon Twitter If there is one thing that is true about Mashudur Choudhury, it is that he is a liar and a fantasist. Throughout excruciating evidence in his two-week trial, the jury heard how he had: But the prosecution said the accounts he had held with Twitter and other social media - written in the style of mujahideen warriors - revealed the person Choudhury really wanted to be. The father-of-two is one of six men from Portsmouth who went to Syria in 2013. He is the only one to so far return. He claimed that he never intended to fight, but was looking for an opportunity to move his family abroad to escape what he said were failures in his home life. Relying on a wealth of information gleaned from Twitter and other social media, prosecutors said Choudhury had broken terrorism laws because he had sought to intervene violently in the country's internal affairs for an ideological cause - the establishment of an Islamic state. Contact on the battlefield Choudhury's journey to Syria began in the summer of 2013, when contacted his friend Ifthekar Jaman, who had already travelled to fight. Jaman, who had joined one of the country's jihadist groups and is now believed to be dead, gave a revealing interview to BBC Two's Newsnight programme about his experiences. Choudhury gathered information about the conflict, asked his friend about military training and what to expect if he joined him. Social media recovered by detectives, including tweets and other online conversations, show that Choudhury talked about dying a martyr's death. He joked that they could form a special group of Portsmouth fighters in Syria - the al-Britani Brigade Bangladeshi Bad Boys. Speaking from the witness box, Choudhury denied being a jihadist, saying he went to Syria looking for a better life. He said he believed he had failed his wife after the collapse of a business venture and had ultimately constructed a series of increasingly elaborate fantasies and lies to make people feel sorry for him. Those lies included pretending he had stomach cancer. That persuaded his sister-in-law to fund medical treatment in Singapore, and he invented other reasons for foreign holidays to escape his home life. While in Singapore, the court heard, he had hung around in Starbucks and had sought out prostitutes. Choudhury said that he was now "utterly ashamed and embarrassed" by his lies. He had considered performing "hijra" - a ritualised migration to a Muslim country - to get away from his past life, which is where Syria came into the picture. But the prosecution said that notion of an innocent migration was just a cover story for the jury. Journey to the frontline In July 2013, Choudhury and other young men from the city came together in Portsmouth's Jami Mosque to secretly plan their journey to the front line. There is no suggestion that the mosque's authorities knew of the plan - but the trial heard that some members of the Muslim community feared the men were extremists and ultimately assisted the police investigation. The court heard that five of the men travelled: On 8 October, the five flew from Gatwick Airport to Turkey and then went by bus to reach the border town of Reyhanli. They met three other Britons and the group of eight contacted Jaman for help in getting over the border. Choudhury told the court that as he travelled deeper into Syria, he saw all the signs of a war. Burned-out cars littered the highway to the northern city of Aleppo. Their Syrian driver would tell them to duck as they passed sniper positions. Sheltering in a rebel-controlled hospital in the bombed-out city, the men ate pasta as their table shook from artillery bombardment. Choudhury saw corpses in body bags and a man whose hand had been chopped off as a punishment. His account then diverged from the prosecution allegations. He told the jury that while the other Britons went to join a military training camp run by a jihadist group, he had asked the Syrians to get him out - and he ultimately flew home alone. After his arrest at Gatwick, Choudhury broke down in his police cell, sobbing about gun fire. Prosecutors say that he was recalling his training and that he had only returned because he had either lost his nerve or the fighters had rejected him. Angry wife But that wasn't the man recognised by Choudhury's wife, Toslima Akhtar. In emotional and angry evidence, she painted a picture of her husband as a useless fantasist who was incapable of joining the Syrian cause. Until the start of the trial she had believed he had really suffered from cancer - and for an hour in the witness box she held forth about his failings as a husband, father and man. While she would be working all hours and looking after the children, he was lying in bed. When she was work, he would be texting her all day trying to get her attention. When he texted her in 2013 suggesting they move to Syria, she completely flipped. "I hate you," she replied. "You want to die in battlefield, go die. I really mean it, just go. I will [be] relieved at last." In strong language, she told the court that she did not literally mean he should sacrifice himself on a foreign battlefield. She regarded his suggestion as yet another one of the "barmy" fantasies that had made her life a misery. "I am telling him, 'Get lost,'" she explained. "'Go die, jump off a cliff. I've had enough.'" While Mrs Akhtar believed her husband wasn't capable of fighting, his social media timelines were full of religious quotes about war, including arcane references to a belief held by some jihadi fighters that Syria marks the beginning of the end of the world. Alison Morgan, prosecuting, said that while it was clear that Choudhury was a liar, he had also decided that a death on the battlefield offered him a way out of his miserable life. "Going to fight and to be a martyr offered you a way out of yours sins, didn't it?" said Ms Morgan. "No it did not," insisted Choudhury. "You wanted to get away from your sins and your past?" she asked. "You were leading an appalling life. You had lied about your illness and you felt guilt and disgust - and you were terrified of the hereafter?" "Yes," said Choudhury quietly. Mashudur Choudhury will be sentenced on 13 June.

सीरिया में इस्लामी लड़ाकों में शामिल होने की कोशिश करने का आरोपी पोर्ट्समाउथ का एक व्यक्ति ब्रिटेन में पहला व्यक्ति बन गया है जिसे संघर्ष से संबंधित आतंकवादी अपराध के लिए दोषी ठहराया गया है। किंग्स्टन क्राउन कोर्ट में एक जूरी ने दो सप्ताह के मुकदमे के बाद मसूदुर चौधरी को आतंकवादी कृत्यों की तैयारी करने का दोषी पाया। लेकिन चौधरी वास्तव में क्या कर रहा था-और यह दोषसिद्धि क्यों मायने रखती है?


The state of UK theatre: Boom or bust?

Summary: A few years ago, the theatre establishment mobilised stars from Danny Boyle to Dame Helen Mirren to warn about funding cuts. New figures suggest theatres have actually increased production levels in recent years. So what is the story behind the stats?

By Ian YoungsArts reporter, BBC News There is a premier league of leading subsidised theatre companies that can take their hit shows to the West End, to Broadway and into cinemas, attract private funding and lure top talent. And the gap between that top tier and other publicly-funded theatres is growing. That is one conclusion that can be drawn from BBC research comparing production levels in 2009 and 2014. This research analysed 20 theatres that each get more than £1m per year in government grants, plus a further 42 venues and touring production companies that get between £250,000 and £1m per year. I compared production levels in 2009 and 2014 because 2009 was before the latest cuts began, and five years is a nice number. I was expecting to find a story about theatres cutting production numbers and cutting new writing. What has emerged is a different story - one of most theatres finding ways to deal with the cuts while maintaining, or increasing, production levels and new writing. They have become more efficient, more resourceful and more entrepreneurial, without simply playing it safe. At the 20 best-funded theatres, which each get more than £1m per year, there were 23% more full professional productions in 2014 compared with five years earlier. That is despite a total government funding cut of 2.1% to those theatres between 2009/10 and 2014/15 (not seismic - but around 19% once inflation is taken into account). The 42 smaller companies have had their government grants cut by 0.25% over those five years - or 17% in real terms. At these 42 lesser-funded venues and touring companies, the numbers of shows have not gone up, but nor have they dropped significantly. And despite the received wisdom that new plays get cut when times are tough because they are more difficult to sell, there has in fact been a rise in new writing. Who is in the premier league? The National Theatre gets the biggest government grant, at £17.6m. But that is down by £1.6m, or 9%, since 2009. However, box office takings from the National's hit shows have shot up in that time. War Horse, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and One Man Two Guvnors have all been to the West End and Broadway as well as on tour. Some 492,000 people bought tickets for National shows in the West End and on tour in 2009/10. That quadrupled to two million in 2013/14. So when the National needed £1.7m to build The Shed, a temporary theatre specialising in new writing while one of its auditoria was being refurbished in 2013 and '14, the money came from War Horse's Broadway profits. Therefore, War Horse paid for a new play about gender politics inspired by the controversial single Blurred Lines, a drama set in a homeless hostel and a thriller about a family holiday gone wrong. It is an example of how a major subsidised theatre has become more commercial - and used its new income to pay for riskier new work that may go on to be the next hit. 'Staggering' fundraising The National Theatre is top of this theatrical league. Also up there is the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), which balanced its Bardic staples with West End and Broadway runs of its adaptation of Roald Dahl's Matilda and a festival of new plays by women last year. The National Theatre of Scotland had a West End transfer of Let The Right One In, as well as staging new musicals about eccentric poet Ivor Cutler and teenage girls who fought a friend's deportation. At the Young Vic in London, new works tackled topics from Syria to synesthesia, while the venue took its crowd-pleasing productions of The Scottsboro Boys and A Doll's House to the West End. The Young Vic's latest annual accounts also revealed a "staggering" £1.3m in fundraising from trusts, individuals and corporate sponsors in 2013/14. There has also been an "increase in major donations" at London's Royal Court. The 20 best-funded theatres also include the Birmingham Rep, which gained an extra auditorium when it moved into a refurbished building in 2013. Chichester Festival Theatre remains the regional theatre with the best track record for London transfers. At the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, annual audience figures were up 16% in 2013/14 and there has been a "step change" in fundraising, while the Theatre Royal Plymouth is increasing its production levels, including a "major increase" in new writing. These venues will point out that any progress is down to much hard work and ingenuity, and that they are still buffeted by the prevailing economic winds. The Bristol Old Vic, another member of the £1m+ club, said it "fell considerably short" of box office targets in 2013/14, the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse says the economic climate poses a "significant threat", while the Birmingham Rep says this year is a "tipping point" where none of its shows can afford to lose money. Beyond the top 20, the lesser-funded theatres and touring companies have been required to work hard and come up with equally ingenious ideas to maintain production levels and standards. It is just that they, on the whole, have fewer options - especially outside London. 'A miracle' Do these production numbers tell the whole story? "Absolutely it's a sign of good health and resourcefulness," says Rachel Tackley, president of trade body UK Theatre and director of English Touring Theatre. "It seems like a bit of a miracle really that we've managed to produce more with less, and more new work as well." But others see it differently. Actors' union Equity says actors are working for fewer weeks in total at the best-subsidised theatres. It has figures for "actor weeks" at 16 of the 20 leading theatres examined for the BBC research. They show that actors worked for 15% fewer weeks in 2013/14 compared with 2009/10. Smaller casts "What I think that shows is that while the number of productions has gone up, the level of production hasn't," says Alistair Smith, editor of The Stage newspaper. "What that would seem to indicate is that it's a change in the business model, moving away from the more traditional producing theatre model of having shows sit down for quite a long time and run for a month or so, to a model where you have more shows doing shorter runs, possibly with smaller casts as well." The future outlook for the economic climate is still stormy, and the strong fear in the world of theatre is that we ain't seen nothing yet. Central government will need to make more big cuts, while local authorities, which also fund many arts organisations, will also come under more financial pressure. Many of the best-funded theatres have put themselves in a relatively strong position. Other companies may struggle more. But if there is one rule in theatreland, it is that the show must go on.

कुछ साल पहले, थिएटर प्रतिष्ठान ने धन में कटौती के बारे में चेतावनी देने के लिए डैनी बॉयल से लेकर डेम हेलेन मिरेन तक सितारों को जुटाया। नए आंकड़ों से पता चलता है कि सिनेमाघरों ने वास्तव में हाल के वर्षों में उत्पादन के स्तर में वृद्धि की है। तो आंकड़ों के पीछे की कहानी क्या है?


Three Western myths about Japan

Summary: National and racial stereotypes are often hard to dispel, but in the case of Japan, argues Dr Chris Harding of Edinburgh University, people in the West seem particularly determined to cling on to a set of long-established myths.

Landing in Japan for the first time 10 years ago, I couldn't wait to get out of Narita airport's dull beige arrivals area and into the real Japan. Pretty soon, I felt sure, I would be lost in the intense verdant greens of paddy fields and forests, the steaming waters of natural hot springs. A sip of green tea would set me up for an afternoon of meditation in some old Buddhist temple tucked in among fragrant cedars. And then as night fell, a bullet train would zoom me into central Tokyo for a joyously baffled embrace of its Blade Runner futurism and crazy entertainments. None of these fantasies survived a three-hour gridlocked bus ride into Tokyo, the motorway's faceless concrete sidings occasionally dipping to allow views out across faceless concrete high-rises. I drank sugary milk marketed as "ice coffee" with the Japanese acquaintance who'd come to meet me. We established that though his family was "technically Buddhist" he had no idea what that meant and he associated temples with school trips and dead people. As we lapsed into silence, I considered asking Japan's tourist board for my money back. I had been mis-sold Japan! Later I realised they were just doing their job, generating tourist dollars with the material available to them - one extremely gullible young man, plus a century and a half of Western misrepresentations of Japan. Here are three of the best misrepresentations - or worst, depending on your point of view. 1: Japan is inherently strange "To find oneself suddenly in a world where everything is upon a smaller and daintier scale than with us - a world of lesser and seemingly kindlier beings, all smiling at you as if to wish you well - a world where all movement is slow and soft, and voices are hushed… this is surely the realisation, for imaginations nourished with English folklore, of the old dream of a World of Elves." That was the writer Lafcadio Hearn, 125 years ago. Across the century that followed, countless Westerners visited and worked in Japan. Japanese culture became readily available to us in literature and film. And yet despite all this, the keynote of the brilliant 1980s travelogue Clive James in Japan was a drily comic bewilderment at everything. When he buys a snack on a bullet train, thinking that it might be a ham sandwich (while also noting that it looks like a pair of tights) it turns out to be a powerful-smelling dried squid - "dried and ironed" he speculates. Revolted, James stuffs the snack into the seat pocket and heads off for his next misadventure with the carriage's on-board telephone. Clive James wasn't alone. Soon came Michael Palin, who shared with James a tendency to observe and commentate on the Japanese from a distance, without really engaging directly. Maybe I shouldn't gripe. This was light entertainment, after all. But whereas most travel documentaries try to offer a portrait of a place, helping viewers or listeners get to know it, when it came to the Japanese the underlying message was: "It can't be done! They're completely inscrutable!" Why? One reason may be that in a world where true strangeness and surprise have become rare and precious commodities, we have to find them somewhere. Financial Times journalist David Pilling quotes a friend who said Japan was the most alien place she'd been that had good plumbing. At the same time, Japan offers us a mirror in which to look at ourselves. We say "Japan is…", but we're really asking a question: "Are we…?" The Japanese are dainty, kindly, soft - are we coarse and hard-hearted? Japan is hobbled by a group mentality that trumps individualism - how free are we…? 2. The Japanese are dangerous Atrocities committed during World War Two gave the Japanese military a powerful reputation for cruelty. But a notion has long bubbled away in the West that the Japanese as a people are inherently unpredictable and dangerous - the famous gentility masking something menacing. This goes back at least as far as the 1850s, when British travellers and diplomats saw Japanese tolerance of their presence in the country morph into sporadic attacks against Westerners and their Japanese assistants. They linked the violence to the particular outlook of the samurai class, and the association stuck. Some of these early ideas about the samurai were in part Japanese creations - fantasies concocted for a Western readership willing to pay good money for exotic tales of violence and sex. World War Two gave the legend another twist: the chivalrous, highly ethical elements of this samurai fantasy were lost, and what remained was the unthinking loyalty, the refusal to surrender, the indifference towards death - and others' lives. You can hear the results of all this in Alan Whicker's nervous postwar musings on karate. 3. Japanese women are submissive Japan has been seen as the land that feminism forgot. Both Japanese and Western commentators have tended to see the geisha girl as the ideal of Japanese womanhood - attractive and subtle, subservient to men, but clever enough to be good company. Then there was the influential American anthropologist of the 1940s, Ruth Benedict, who heard that Japanese girls were given just enough education so they could put their husbands' books back the right way up once they'd finished dusting them. By the 1960s, for Western men unsure what to make of the rise of women's liberation movements, all of this appeared deeply attractive. Japanese women even received the ultimate British seal of approval in 1967, as Mie Hama became Bond-girl "Kissy Suzuki" in You Only Live Twice. Given the low-down on domestic arrangements in Japan by his male host - women are inferior to men, they're happy with that, and they live to serve - Bond gives his blessing: "I think I'll retire here…" And if you think that nothing of this sort could possibly go on in the early 21st Century, then you haven't been paying attention to Japanese pop culture, and the success of Japanese pop behemoth AKB-48. Yes, 48 young girls (in the original line-up, though the group has since expanded), forbidden from having boyfriends and content instead to smile and dance around in bikinis or mock military uniforms or really whatever a paying public of - critics would argue - socially inadequate young and middle-aged men want to see. All in all, this particular myth about Japan is simply worth too much to too many people - Western men mourning the passing of the patriarchy, Western feminists looking for sisters to save in Asia, corporate Japan chasing the under-deodorised male dollar (or Yen) - for it to be revised any time soon. It's the perfect example of how diverse interests come together over time to create misrepresentations with a surprisingly long shelf life. More from the Magazine Seventy years ago many Japanese people in occupied Tokyo after World War Two saw US troops as the enemy. But tens of thousands of young Japanese women married GIs nonetheless - and then faced a big struggle to find their place in the US. The Japanese women who married the enemy You can listen to Misunderstanding Japan, produced for the BBC Radio 4 programme on Archive on 4, on the BBC iPlayer. Dr Christopher Harding is a writer and broadcaster who teaches Japanese and Indian history at the University of Edinburgh. He blogs at www.theboredomproject.com and tweets as @drchrisharding. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

राष्ट्रीय और नस्लीय रूढ़ियों को दूर करना अक्सर कठिन होता है, लेकिन जापान के मामले में, एडिनबर्ग विश्वविद्यालय के डॉ. क्रिस हार्डिंग का तर्क है कि पश्चिम के लोग विशेष रूप से लंबे समय से स्थापित मिथकों के एक समूह से चिपके रहने के लिए दृढ़ प्रतीत होते हैं।


Police review Cheshire East Council physio contracts

Summary: Cheshire Police are to review the awarding of Cheshire East Council contracts to the council leader's physiotherapist.

Leader Michael Jones resigned last week after facing criticism over his links with the owner of a fitness company. He denied any wrongdoing and said he stood down to avoid infighting within the Conservative group. Cheshire Police's Economic Crime Unit will "review the available material" to see if an investigation is needed. The council waived its financial rules when it granted three contracts to Core Fit Ltd, collectively worth £156,000. The company, which is owned by physiotherapist Amanda Morris, runs fitness classes in schools.

चेशायर पुलिस परिषद के नेता के फिजियोथेरेपिस्ट को चेशायर ईस्ट काउंसिल के अनुबंध देने की समीक्षा करने वाली है।