CEO Secrets: 'Try bartering to kickstart your business'

Summary: Walk down London's Oxford Street and Regent Street and you will see big advertising screens in the windows of many shops, flashing out advertisements. The firm responsible for installing a lot of these screens, and designing the ads on them, is called inurface - a multi-million pound company.

By Jeremy HowellBusiness reporter, BBC News "They're electronic posters," says chief executive Josh Bunce. "But they can display a range of advertisements and messages in the same space." The deals that inurface has landed with retail giants like Boots and The Body Shop has made it one of the leading lights in the UK's advertising industry. It's a long way from the firm's beginnings in 2008 in Bristol. To hit the big time in the capital, Josh knew he had to look like a prestigious advertising company to impress potential clients - and that meant having offices in the heart of London's West End. The problem was affording the rent. For that, he resorted to barter. "We wanted to be in the heart of the retail land, which is obviously Regent Street, around Oxford Street," says Josh. "We didn't really have the budget at the time to afford the kind of office that we wanted and the space we wanted to bring our clients into, so we bartered with the landlord." Josh worked out a deal with a central London office rental company. He offered to install video screens for free throughout their office space. In return, they agreed to let his company off paying six months' rent. "What we managed to do was negotiate. Basically, putting AV equipment into their office space, from large touchscreens in the meeting rooms to video walls in the reception to enhance the whole space." Taking that office space in one of London's most prestigious areas worked its magic. The company, which had started life installing video screens in coffee shops in the West Country, suddenly looked like a major player in the industry. Inurface now turns over £32m a year, and other big name clients include Sports Direct, Chelsea football club and Delta Airlines. "It was a bit of smoke and mirrors, this way of getting a prestigious office address," says Josh. "But in advertising, it's essential to look the part. And we wouldn't have been able to do it without making a barter deal with the landlord." He recommends that other start-ups also try bartering their services with landlords or business suppliers if they are strapped for cash. "Bartering goes back to the Stone Age, before money was invented," he says. "But there's no reason you shouldn't try it today. If you're a stationery company, you could have done a similar deal. If you were a telecoms company, you could have done a similar deal." Many companies have sprung up that specialise in brokering such barter deals amongst companies and Josh is striking a deal with one of them to exchange his services with other business partners. "It's always worth asking your landlord or suppliers if they will barter products or services," says Josh. "They can only say no, so why not try it? That would be my advice." Read more CEO Secrets here.

लंदन की ऑक्सफ़ोर्ड स्ट्रीट और रीजेंट स्ट्रीट पर चलें और आपको कई दुकानों की खिड़कियों में बड़े विज्ञापन स्क्रीन दिखाई देंगे, जो विज्ञापनों को चमकाते हैं। इन स्क्रीनों को स्थापित करने और उन पर विज्ञापनों को डिजाइन करने के लिए जिम्मेदार फर्म को इनसर्फेस कहा जाता है-एक बहु-मिलियन पाउंड की कंपनी।


Coronavirus briefing: UK testing criticised and Trump warns of 'painful weeks'

Summary: If you want to get this briefing by email, sign up here

By Victoria KingBBC News UK testing in the spotlight Criticism has been mounting in the UK over a lack of testing for frontline NHS staff. Up to a quarter of doctors and a fifth of nurses are off work because they are having to self-isolate - either because they are showing symptoms or a member of their household is. Many could return to work if tested and cleared of having the virus. The British Medical Association said the government had been promising a mass roll-out for more than two weeks but was yet to deliver. Senior minister Michael Gove admitted on Tuesday the UK had to go "further, faster" to increase testing. Health Secretary Matt Hancock - who has coronavirus himself - is urging hospitals to do much more, using any spare laboratory space. Why can't the UK test as much as other countries like Germany? Read our explanation. The UK death toll rose by 381 on Tuesday to 1,789, including a 13-year-old boy from south London. Ismail Mohamed Abdulwahab's family said he had no underlying health conditions and they were "beyond devastated". Elsewhere, research suggests nearly a fifth of all small and medium-sized businesses in the UK could run out of the cash they need to survive in the next four weeks, despite unprecedented government support (explained in detail here). We've been hearing personal stories of those affected throughout this crisis. Here, meet the "minimum wage heroes" - the low paid on the frontline of the NHS, supermarkets and other workplaces. Meanwhile, the BBC's George Alagiah discusses the experience of living with cancer and coronavirus. 'Matter of life and death' The outbreak is the biggest global challenge since World War Two, according to the Secretary General of the United Nations. António Guterres warned it could bring a recession "that probably has no parallel in the recent past". US President Donald Trump has certainly shifted his language in line with that stark assessment. The BBC's Anthony Zurcher says at his most recent press conference, there was none of the sugar-coating of days gone by - just the cold, hard reality of the facts on the ground. Mr Trump said Americans must follow social distancing restrictions, calling it "a matter of life and death", but even with strict measures, the White House is projecting that between 100,000 and 240,000 citizens will die. Elsewhere in the world, Spain, France and Italy each saw more than 800 deaths on Tuesday. In India, engineers are racing to build a low-cost ventilator to save Covid-19 patients. And in the Middle East, there are warnings that the outbreak is a ticking time-bomb for the unstable region. Countries are setting up hospitals in ships, stadiums and parks, and introducing all sorts of measures to limit the spread of coronavirus. Here we look at some of the more unusual. Follow the latest developments around the world via our live page. Get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning Science and technology The disease is driving forward innovation and research at a pace. Scientists in London think a loss of smell or taste may be a sign that you have it. Our online health editor Michelle Roberts looks more closely, while here's a reminder of the other, better-known symptoms to look out for. Labs around the world are also working to produce a vaccine for coronavirus. Find out how close one might be. In other developments, 3-D printers are being pressed into service to create face shields for the NHS, and an app is being considered to trace virus cases and ultimately allow lockdowns to be eased. How the crisis is affecting young people's mental health By Vibeke Venema, BBC Stories Naomi, a final-year psychology student from Cardiff, says her anxiety has increased hugely due to the coronavirus. Her finals were cancelled, and although the lectures and exams have moved online, the loss of routine and uncertainty have affected her. The things she used to do to manage her anxiety, such as going out of the house to study in the library, are no longer an option, so she has had to develop new coping strategies. She finds that keeping a journal helps, using prompts like: What's making me feel this way? What am I grateful for today? Read the full article One thing not to miss today How birth is changing in the age of coronavirus Listen up In the first in a series of special episodes of BBC Radio 5 Live's Fit and Fearless podcast, Tally, Zanna and Vic talk about keeping fit at home. And in the latest Coronavirus Newscast, the team discusses police powers and how Asian communities in the UK are responding to the crisis. What the papers say Anger over delays in virus testing make several front pages. "Fix testing fiasco now" is the Daily Mail's take on the issue. The paper says the "shambles" is the government's greatest misstep in its handling of the crisis. The Financial Times says Michael Gove blamed difficulty securing the chemicals needed to make sure the tests are reliable. According to the Times, Boris Johnson has now personally taken charge of efforts to source those reagents. Elsewhere, Britain's care homes are in danger of being "overwhelmed" by coronavirus, with staff warning they are at "breaking point", the Guardian says. The front page of the Sun issues a rallying cry, picturing soldiers helping to set up a makeshift hospital with 4,000 beds. The paper declares this to be a "war we can win". The Daily Express, too, tries to be upbeat, quoting a "top medic" on "green shoots" in the UK's situation. From elsewhere 'I'm 27 and I was hospitalised with coronavirus' (Refinery 29) Despair and pride in China's Wuhan as coronavirus lockdown eases (Reuters) Yes we need experts. But let's not politicise expertise (Spectator) If the season is cancelled because of Covid-19, these records will disappear (ESPN) Sign up for a morning briefing direct to your phone Need something different? Meet the man who designs the world's water parks - and find out how he made the leap from an auditing firm to a job of childhood dreams. Go behind the scenes of the BBC's surprise hit The Repair Shop. The 1980s is inspiring pop music once again - and influencing artists who weren't even born then. And finally, artist David Hockney shares some soothing images of spring exclusively with the BBC.

यदि आप ईमेल द्वारा यह जानकारी प्राप्त करना चाहते हैं, तो यहां साइन अप करें


Greenwich murder: Man arrested after body found in garden

Summary: A man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a woman who was found dead in a back garden in south-east London.

The woman, thought to be in her 50s, was discovered behind a house in Tunnel Avenue, Greenwich, at about 11:30 BST on Saturday. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said it appeared she had been stabbed and they were informing her next of kin. The arrested man, aged in his 50s, is being questioned at a south London police station. The Met said they believed the dead woman and the arrested man were known to each other, although they do not believe the incident is domestic. A post-mortem examination is expected to be held on Sunday afternoon.

दक्षिण-पूर्व लंदन में एक पिछवाड़े के बगीचे में मृत पाई गई एक महिला की हत्या के संदेह में एक व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


The hidden dangers of magnet fishing

Summary: Magnet fishing - where people hunt for metal submerged in canals and rivers - is increasing in popularity, with thousands uploading videos of their finds on YouTube. But there are stark warnings to be heard over this potentially dangerous hobby.

By Samantha FisherBBC News "You do look at it afterwards and think, 'that could have gone off'," said Nigel Lamford. When he discovered a suspected grenade in July, the road was closed for six hours while the police and bomb squad dealt with it. This was not the first time one of his discoveries had shattered the peace of the canal-side with wailing sirens and flashing blue lights. Nor was the grenade his first - he has pulled out at least one other from Northamptonshire's waters, in addition to 100 bullets and 13 guns. "When you pull something up like a grenade you get an adrenaline rush," he said. "I make sure people stand away." Incidents like this are now a frequent consequence of magnet fishing, which involves dangling a magnet attached to a rope into water to locate metallic finds. It has found popularity on social media, in particular, YouTube, where there are more than 500,000 results relating to the hobby. Enthusiasts point to two factors for its appeal. Firstly, unlike traditional angling, you rarely go home empty-handed. Secondly, there is the mystery of the unknown. Both of these appear to outweigh the dangers. Grenades, like the one found in July in Lancashire for example, are regularly turned up. Some catches can be even more alarming - in March, magnet fishers in the River Itchen at Woodmill in Southampton found the body of a handcuffed man. Yet more seriously, a father and son died while magnet fishing in 2018, prompting a warning from the coroner about the "inherent dangers" of the pastime. Martin Andrews, 43, and Jack, 19, were using a very strong magnet on a rope to "catch" pieces of metal in the Huddersfield Canal. Their inquest heard their bodies were found "vertically submerged" and their deaths declared as misadventure. For many magnet fishers however, the thrill of the catch is too tempting to ignore. "I enjoy the unknown. You just never know what's on the end of your rope - it could be junk, weapons, bikes or old tools," said Gareth Bryer, who has more than 61,000 subscribers to his magnet fishing YouTube channel, Drasticg. His haul has included jewellery and watches from canals in the Greater Manchester area as well as guns, knifes, motorbikes [and] safes from robberies. Steven Matts said he has handed in 21 knives to police since he started magnet fishing in Leicestershire's canals almost a year ago. He said he had also found a number of bags weighed down with bricks, containing clothes, hats and gloves. "From the volume of knives and clearly stolen items we find I do believe the canal is used a dumping ground for... criminal activity," he said. "It is an easily accessible way for them to get rid of evidence." Northamptonshire Police said that although there are no laws against magnet fishing, they would ask fishers to exercise "due care" when handling objects, such as unexploded World War Two bombs. "[They] can be extremely dangerous, as well as resource-intensive for our response officers." You might also be interested in What's it like to live in a castle? The homeless teen who studied by candlelight Joy sticks: The 'golden age' of gaming magazines Neither is it illegal to go magnet fishing on land where hobbyists have sought permission. But the Canal & River Trust, which owns most of the UK's canals, has bylaws prohibiting people from removing material from the canal and rivers it owns. While it rarely enforces these, it disapproves of magnet fishing, pointing to "rusty and sharp" metal discarded on the towpath and other dangers. It says it prefers people to arrange organised events. "That way we know who's involved, can ensure there are proper safety measures in place to protect those taking part and can make sure that everything is properly cleaned up afterwards by the organisers," said Dan Whyment, from the trust. Some argue, however, that magnet fishers are actually benefiting the environment - and there may be some truth in this. "Any sport or activity that promotes removal of metal from waterbeds is a good thing," said Dr Andrew Pledger, an ecologist at the University of Loughborough. "The metal may degrade over time. There may be paint that contains toxins and lead which may be leaking undesirable substances into the water. "Obviously they need to be disposed of correctly." He believes a code of practice could help make magnet fishing safe. Currently the Environment Agency does not regulate magnet fishing, but given its increasing popularity, the authorities may well find themselves having to dip a toe into murky waters. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.

मैग्नेट फिशिंग-जहाँ लोग नहरों और नदियों में डूबी धातु की खोज करते हैं-लोकप्रियता में बढ़ रहा है, हजारों लोग यूट्यूब पर अपनी खोजों के वीडियो अपलोड कर रहे हैं। लेकिन इस संभावित खतरनाक शौक पर कड़ी चेतावनी सुनी जा सकती है।


Emmerson Mnangagwa: The 'crocodile' who snapped back

Summary: Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, the man known as "the crocodile" because of his political cunning, achieved a long-held ambition to succeed Robert Mugabe as Zimbabwe's president in November last year.

He has now won a disputed presidential election to legitimise his rule, promising voters his efforts to woo foreign investors will bring back the economy from the brink of collapse. Mr Mugabe resigned following a military takeover and mass demonstrations - all sparked by his sacking of Mr Mnangagwa as his vice-president. "The crocodile", who lived up to his name and snapped back, may have unseated Zimbabwe's only ruler, but he is also associated with some of the worst atrocities committed under the ruling Zanu-PF party since independence in 1980. One veteran of the liberation struggle, who worked with him for many years, once put it simply: "He's a very cruel man, very cruel." But his children see him as a principled, if unemotional, man. His daughter, Farai Mlotshwa - a property developer and the eldest of his nine children by two wives - told BBC Radio 4 that he was a "softie". As if to reinforce this softer image of the new leader, a cuddly crocodile soft toy was passed among the Zanu-PF supporters who welcomed him back to the country after Mr Mugabe's resignation. And what he lacks in charisma and oratory prowess, he makes up for in pragmatism, says close friend and Zanu-PF politician Josiah Hungwe. "Mnangagwa is a practical person. He is a person who recognises that politics is politics but people must eat," he told the BBC, adding that reforming Zimbabwe's disastrous economy will be the focus of his leadership. Who is Emmerson Mnangagwa? Find out more on BBC Radio 4's Profile. The exact year of Mr Mnangagwa's birth is not known - but he is thought to be 75, which would make him nearly 20 years younger than his predecessor who left power aged 93. Born in the central region of Zvishavane, he is a Karanga - the largest clan of Zimbabwe's majority Shona community. Some Karangas felt it was their turn for power, following 37 years of domination by Mr Mugabe's Zezuru clan, though Mr Mnangagwa was accused of profiting while under Mr Mugabe. According to a United Nations report in 2001, he was seen as "the architect of the commercial activities of Zanu-PF". This largely related to the operations of the Zimbabwean army and businessmen in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Zimbabwean troops intervened in the DR Congo conflict on the side of the government and, like those of other countries, were accused of using the conflict to loot some of its rich natural resources such as diamonds, gold and other minerals. More recently military officials - many behind his rise to power - have been accused of benefiting from the rich Marange diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe, with reports of killings and human rights abuses there. 'Blood on his hands' Despite his money-raising role, Mr Mnangagwa, a lawyer who grew up in Zambia, was not always well-loved by the rank and file of his own party. A Zanu-PF official posed an interesting question when asked about Mr Mnangagwa's prospects: "You think Mugabe is bad, but have you thought that whoever comes after him could be even worse?" The opposition candidate who defeated Mr Mnangagwa in the 2000 parliamentary campaign in Kwekwe Central, Blessing Chebundo, might agree. During a bitter campaign, Mr Chebundo escaped death by a whisker when the Zanu-PF youths who had abducted him and doused him with petrol were unable to light a match. Mr Mnangagwa's fearsome reputation was made during the civil war which broke out in the 1980s between Mr Mugabe's Zanu party and the Zapu party of Joshua Nkomo. As national security minister, he was in charge of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), which worked hand in glove with the army to suppress Zapu. Thousands of civilians - mainly ethnic Ndebeles, seen as Zapu supporters - were killed in a campaign known as Gukurahundi, before the two parties merged to form Zanu-PF. Among countless other atrocities carried out by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade of the army, villagers were forced at gunpoint to dance on the freshly dug graves of their relatives and chant pro-Mugabe slogans. Mr Mnangagwa has denied any role in the massacres, but the wounds are still painful and many party officials, not to mention voters, in Matabeleland might find it hard to back Mr Mnangagwa. He does enjoy the support of many of the war veterans who led the campaign of violence against the white farmers and the opposition from 2000. They remember him as one of the men who, following his military training in China and Egypt, directed the fight for independence in the 1960s and 1970s. He also attended the Beijing School of Ideology, run by the Chinese Communist Party. 'Torture scars' Mr Mnangagwa's official profile says he was the victim of state violence after being arrested by the white-minority government in the former Rhodesia in 1965, when the "crocodile gang" he led helped blow up a train near Fort Victoria (now Masvingo). "He was tortured, severely resulting in him losing his sense of hearing in one ear," the profile says. "Part of the torture techniques involved being hanged with his feet on the ceiling and the head down. The severity of the torture made him unconscious for days." As he said he was under 21 at the time, he was not executed but instead sentenced to 10 years in prison. "He has scars from that period. He was young and brave," a close friend of Mr Mnangagwa once said, asking not to be named. "Perhaps that explains why he is indifferent. Horrible things happened to him when he was young." More on post-Mugabe Zimbabwe: His ruthlessness, which it could be argued he learnt from his Rhodesian torturers, is said to have been seen again in 2008 when he reportedly masterminded Zanu-PF's response to Mr Mugabe losing the first round of the president election to long-time rival Morgan Tsvangirai. The military and state security organisations unleashed a campaign of violence against opposition supporters, leaving hundreds dead and forcing thousands from their homes. Mr Tsvangirai then pulled out of the second round and Mr Mugabe was re-elected. Mr Mnangagwa has not commented on allegations he was involved in planning the violence, but an insider in the party's security department later confirmed that he was the political link between the army, intelligence and Zanu-PF. Ice cream plot He was seen as Mr Mugabe's right-hand man - that is until the former first lady Grace Mugabe became politically ambitious and tried to edge him out. Their rivalry took a bizarre turn when he fell ill in August 2017 at a political rally led by former President Mugabe and had to be airlifted to South Africa. His supporters suggested that a rival group within Zanu-PF had poisoned him and appeared to blame ice cream from Mrs Mugabe's dairy firm. In his first words to cheering supporters after Mr Mugabe's resignation, he spoke about this plot and another plan to "eliminate" him. He has also blamed a group linked to the former first lady for an explosion in June at a Zanu-PF rally in Bulawayo in which two people died. But in a BBC interview, he said the country was safe, told foreign investors not to worry and sought to dispel his ruthless reputation: "I am as soft as wool. I am a very soft person in life." His youngest son, a Harare DJ known as St Emmo, blames his reticence for his fearsome reputation. "He was a good father, very very strict. He doesn't say much and I think that's what frightens people - like: 'What is he thinking?'" Nick Mangwana, Zanu-PF representative in the UK, accepts that the Zimbabwe's new leader is "not the most eloquent". "He's not pally-pally but more of a do-er, more of a technocrat." But in his six months in power he has fully embraced Twitter and Facebook - after the Bulawayo blast he posted a message reiterating the strength his Christian faith gives him. Fixing the economy is what is paramount now. Zimbabweans are on average 15% poorer now than they were in the 1980s. British journalist Martin Fletcher, who interviewed Mr Mnangagwa in 2016, does not see him a reborn democrat. "He understands the need to rebuild the economy if only so that he can pay his security forces - and his survival depends on their loyalty," he said.

अपनी राजनीतिक चालाकी के कारण "मगरमच्छ" के रूप में जाने जाने वाले व्यक्ति इमर्सन डैम्बुडजो मनांगाग्वा ने पिछले साल नवंबर में जिम्बाब्वे के राष्ट्रपति के रूप में रॉबर्ट मुगाबे का स्थान लेने की लंबे समय से चली आ रही महत्वाकांक्षा हासिल की।


The Scottish Borders: A region without railway stations

Summary: Would you like to see my maps of the railways?

By Giancarlo RinaldiSouth Scotland reporter, BBC Scotland news website As conversational opening gambits go, it is not the kind of statement likely to fire you to the top of the guest list for a dinner party. Or, if you are already at a social gathering, it probably won't get you invited back. And yet, the pictorial history they offer of the expansion, contraction, disappearance and planned revival of train travel in the Scottish Borders is - to my mind at least - an intriguing one. The story of the Britain's railways is one which gathered pace in the early 19th Century. In 1825, the Stockton and Darlington became the first railway in the world to operate a freight and passenger service with steam traction. Five years later, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway became, according the the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the "first fully evolved railway to be built". It signalled an explosion of rail construction, the start of which is captured in the recently republished Bradshaw's Railway Map of 1839. The only link it shows between Scotland and England via the Borders is the Edinburgh to Berwick line, although it was not opened until 1846. That was the beginning of the region's involvement with train travel. It might never have expanded much further, as David Spaven, author of Mapping the Railways, points out. He said a Royal Commission of the time reckoned that the only routes needed linking Scotland and England were the main east and west coast lines. "Little did they realise that by building new rail lines it would generate new traffic," he said. So, by 1849, the North British Railway Company had opened a stretch of its Waverley Line from Edinburgh to Hawick and later extended it to Carlisle. Mr Spaven argues that the decision to take that southern section through less populated areas - rather than through Langholm - might ultimately have cost its very existence. However, it initially opened up another slice of the Borders to rail traffic. A series of maps published over time shows how the routes quickly expanded to criss-cross the region like veins in the human body. By the end of the 19th century and into the early 20th century the service had clearly reached its peak with branch lines sprouting. It is easy to pick out stopping points at Hawick, Eyemouth, Selkirk, Jedburgh, Kelso, Coldstream, Duns, Galashiels, Melrose, Peebles, Lauder and more. In other words, pretty much every major population centre in the Borders. However, that "golden age" would not last. By the 1950s, Mr Spaven says, people were "deserting the railways" and action was taken the following decade in the form of the Beeching Reports. They came up with what the author describes as a "somewhat crude solution" to the problem - the closure of numerous lines and stations. "People often make the comparison with chopping all the branches off a tree," Mr Spaven explained. The axe did not fall everywhere with the same destructiveness. A "vociferous campaign" saw many stations in the Highlands retained but the Borders lost all of its stopping points suffering what Mr Spaven calls a "great regional injustice". By 1969, the last stations in the Borders had closed. "Seventy-five thousand people or more were completely isolated from the rail network," said Mr Spaven. It is now the only mainland region of Great Britain without a railway station. It might not seem like such a deprivation and yet it is a thought worth mulling over. I was born in the last year trains stopped in the Borders but, in contrast, I have never lived anywhere where I was far removed from a station. In Dumfries, Edinburgh, Darlington and Borgo San Lorenzo near Florence, I have never been much more than a 20-minute walk from a spot where I could catch a train. The service might not always have been run at the times I would have liked it or been as luxurious as I would have wished but, at least, it was there. I suspect most of us have, at one time or another, grumbled about the trains or railway network but most of us have access somewhere near at hand. But in the Scottish Borders the only way to catch a train is to leave the region. They still pass through - on the East Coast Main Line - but you would have to jump aboard a moving vehicle if you hoped to catch one within the boundaries of the Borders. It was this situation which meant that, by the 1990s, a campaign had begun to reopen the old rail route to the area and, slowly but surely, it gathered momentum. Eventually, the bill was passed which would allow construction of track linking Edinburgh as far as Tweedbank. It is hoped it will be completed and passengers making journeys by 2014 - some 45 years after they last did so. Some people view that as putting right a long-standing wrong but others reckon that it will either never happen or - at a price estimated around £295m - that it does not represent value for money. If nothing else, however, it's another topic for debate over dinner - after you have looked at those old railway maps, of course.

क्या आप रेलवे के मेरे नक्शे देखना चाहेंगे?


Miraculous plane crash survivors

Summary: A young mother and her baby have been found alive five days after their plane crashed in the jungle of western Colombia. The survival of Maria Nelly Murillo and her one-year-old son has been described as "a miracle". The following is a selection of some of the most miraculous plane crash survival stories.

Juliane Koepcke - 1971 On Christmas Eve 1971, lightning struck Lansa Flight 508 over Peru, causing it to explode. Juliane Koepcke was the only survivor of the 92 people on board after falling two miles strapped in to her seat. Sat in the next seat, her mother's final words were "that is the end, it's all over". Completely alone in the rainforest, the 17-year-old was covered in deep gashes, and had a broken collarbone and ruptured knee ligaments. However, she had been taught survival skills by her father whilst being raised at a remote jungle research station. After walking for 10 days, fighting mosquitoes and hunger, she began to float down a large river where she was saved by a passing boat. Once on board she realised a wound on her arm had become infested with maggots. Remembering her father's advice she poured petrol on it and picked more than 30 maggots out. In 2000, the documentary maker Werner Herzog released a film about her story, entitled Wings of Hope. Herzog was inspired to make the film after a last-minute change caused him to miss Koepcke's doomed flight. Vesna Vulovic - 1972 On 26 January 1972, a suspected terrorist bomb placed on board JAT Yugoslav Airlines Flight 357 detonated over Czechoslovakia, blowing the plane apart in mid-air. Of the 28 people on board only Vesna Vulovic, a 22-year-old Serbian flight attendant, survived. Trapped by a food cart in the tail of the DC-9 aircraft, she was left in a coma with injuries including a fractured skull, three broken vertebrae and two broken legs. She is the Guinness World Record holder for the highest fall without a parachute (33,333 feet) and despite this dubious achievement she still flies. "To this day I enjoy travelling and have no fear of flying," she said years after the crash. Andes flight disaster - 1972 This crash entered popular culture as one of the most famous stories of human survival. On 13 October 1972, a Uruguayan plane carrying 45 passengers crashed in the middle of the Andes mountain range. More than a quarter of those on board died in the initial crash. Rescuers gave up after 10 days of searching, assuming that no-one could have survived. Stranded in the mountains, with no food, the survivors were forced to resort to cannibalism - eating the flesh of those who had died. Another eight were killed when an avalanche hit their shelter amongst the wreckage. Realising they would die on the mountain, two Chilean passengers, Nando Parrado and Roberto Canessa, set out to find help. They trekked for 10 days before reaching Chile. After they had alerted the authorities, the 14 remaining survivors were rescued from the crash site - 72 days after the plane went down. Bahia Bakari - 2009 On 30 June 2009, a Yemenia Airways flight en route to the Comoros islands nosedived out of the sky and crashed into the Indian Ocean. Bahia Bakari was the only one of 153 people on board to survive. Just 12-years-old, barely able to swim and with no life vest she clung to a piece of wreckage for hours until found by rescuers. She was flown to hospital in France to be treated for burns and broken bones. After being picked up she had to be convinced that there had in fact been a plane crash. Still in a state of shock, she believed that she had fallen from the plane after pressing her forehead too hard against its windows. Bahia was dubbed "the miracle girl" by the world's media. In 2010 she released her own book entitled "I'm Bahia, the miracle girl". Ruben van Assouw - 2010 Nine-year-old Ruben van Assouw was the only survivor after an Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A330 crashed just short of the runway of Libya's Tripoli airport. His father Patrick, mother Trudy and brother Enzo were among the 103 people who died. Pulled unconscious from the wreckage, Reuben underwent surgery for fractured legs and has made a good recovery. He now lives with his aunt and uncle in the Netherlands. A planned return to Libya was reportedly cancelled because of the fighting that followed the country's revolution. Are children more likely to survive plane crashes?

पश्चिमी कोलंबिया के जंगल में विमान दुर्घटनाग्रस्त होने के पांच दिन बाद एक युवा माँ और उसका बच्चा जीवित पाए गए हैं। मारिया नेली मुरिलो और उसके एक साल के बेटे के जीवित रहने को "एक चमत्कार" के रूप में वर्णित किया गया है। निम्नलिखित कुछ सबसे चमत्कारी विमान दुर्घटना में जीवित रहने की कहानियों का चयन है।


Derby death: Woman charged with murdering man

Summary: A 47-year-old woman has been charged with murder after a man's body was found at a property in Derby.

The man's body was found by Derbyshire Police at the property in Manchester Street at 13:30 GMT on Saturday. Magdalena Kissova, also of Manchester Street, will appear at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court on Tuesday. Two men, aged 24 and 33, have also been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.

डर्बी में एक संपत्ति में एक पुरुष का शव मिलने के बाद एक 47 वर्षीय महिला पर हत्या का आरोप लगाया गया है।


East Belfast hosts Irish language festival

Summary: East Belfast is hosting an Irish language festival this week.

It opened with a bi-lingual play at the Skainos Centre on the Newtownards Road on Friday evening. At the centre on Saturday, there will be a series of Irish language classes to suit people of different abilities. The organisers hope the event will help change perceptions about the Irish language. Linda Ervine, Irish language development officer, said: "I think the language has been politicised. That shared heritage that we have with the Irish language has been lost to us. "I am trying to help people reconnect with a language that has been lost."

ईस्ट बेलफास्ट इस सप्ताह एक आयरिश भाषा उत्सव की मेजबानी कर रहा है।


12 Years a Slave: Who was Solomon Northup?

Summary: With 10 Bafta and seven Golden Globe nominations, 12 Years a Slave looks set to triumph this awards season. The film is based on a 150-year-old account of how Solomon Northup, born a free man, was kidnapped into slavery. But who was Northup and why, until recently, was he virtually forgotten?

By Vincent DowdWitness programme, BBC World Service "I thought I knew a fair amount about American history," says John Ridley, "yet only a few years ago I hadn't even heard of Solomon Northup." Ridley is a highly successful 48-year-old African-American writer, whose credits range from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air to the Iraq war satire Three Kings. He's also the Bafta-nominated screenwriter of 12 Years a Slave. "The fact that a well-educated guy like me didn't know Solomon's story says a lot about how ignorant America can be of parts of its past. I'm delighted to help return him to our nation's culture." The book Twelve Years a Slave was published in 1853 by the American firm of Derby and Miller. It had been written very quickly, emerging only months after Solomon Northup escaped from a Louisiana plantation. Published in London at the same time, the book sold well at first - but by the end of the century was little read. Ridley says the movie came about in part because he and director Steve McQueen share an agent. "Steve and I sat down to talk one day and we quickly realised we were both keen to explore slavery as an idea. But it was Steve's wife Bianca (cultural critic Bianca Stigter) who gave him Solomon's book - otherwise I doubt we would have come across it. "Steve loved the book and passed it to me. I thought it was a singular and evocative document. It's not long but I was overwhelmed by its scope and scale." The narrative is straightforward: in 1841, Solomon Northup is living a settled and fairly prosperous life in Saratoga, near New York. He is a free man but is tricked into going to Washington DC, where he is drugged, kidnapped and sent south as a slave. Twelve years later, he gets word out to friends and is rescued. Perhaps the real interest is the detail of slave life - both the harsh cruelty and the periods of domesticity. Relations with the owners who purchase Solomon along the way are crucial, especially with Edwin Epps (played in the film by Michael Fassbender). The middle of the 19th Century saw the publication of many slave narratives in America, designed mainly to support the cause of abolition. The best-known (though much criticised since) was Uncle Tom's Cabin, which appeared in 1852. That Twelve Years a Slave didn't slip into total obscurity was partly the work of Louisiana historian Sue Eakin. She died three years ago, aged 90, but her daughter Sara recalls years of helping with the research. "When she was 11 or so, a neighbour gave Mom the book to read. She grew up near where Solomon had been a slave, so she was astonished and excited to find reference to plantations and even to families she knew well. "Later, at college, Mom bought an old copy for 25 cents in Baton Rouge and the bookstore owner told her it was a worthless old potboiler and was probably all made up. That annoyed her so much she set out to discover more about Solomon and his life. I guess in those days no-one else was interested in him at all. "Then, in 1968, she co-edited a new edition of the book. It was no bestseller but it was the beginning of it coming back into some sort of circulation. By then, it was more than a century old but Mom felt Solomon had written a fair account of how life in central Louisiana must have been. She felt it should be better known - though she'd be surprised to see that Solomon's suddenly world-famous." There were always those who claimed Northup's tale was an exaggeration, or even a total fabrication written as anti-slavery propaganda. Sara is proud that her mother was one of the first to find detailed corroboration of his story. "After he was freed, there is documentation of his attempt to secure legal redress against his kidnappers," she says. "It was a bitter experience for him because in the nation's capital, Washington DC, Solomon's colour meant he wasn't allowed to testify. So the court case got nowhere but the paperwork is now a big help to historians." Professor Clifford Brown co-wrote a recent biography of Northup. He says that in the last 20 years, some of the detail of his life has become clearer. "It's been a matter of looking carefully at census records and at maps of the time, or whatever. We have more detail now of how his father had been freed in 1798 and of the life Solomon and his wife Anne led in Saratoga before the kidnapping. "The manifest of the ship which carried him to New Orleans exists in the US National Archives. That manifest contains names of people Solomon mentioned. There are also hospital records in New Orleans which feature his name. "And, in January 1853, the New York Times had published a detailed account of Solomon's adventures which preceded the book and which tells the same basic story. So evidence of the book's accuracy is convincing." A question long debated is the contribution of David Wilson, credited in 1853 as the book's editor. Some have claimed Wilson in effect wrote Twelve Years a Slave. Professor Brown says it's clear the work was created by Solomon Northup relating his experiences to Wilson, who then knocked them into shape for publication. "It's the equivalent today of a celebrity putting out a book 'as told to' a professional writer or journalist," he says. "Perhaps there are parts of the book where the tone is slightly more Wilson than Northup but that doesn't invalidate the tale he's telling." Like Sue Eakin before him, Professor Brown has had to accept the fact that, a few years after his release in 1853, Solomon Northup simply disappears from the pages of history. "It's a big frustration," he says. "We have no real idea where he spent his final years or what he was doing or where he died. Perhaps there's a gravestone somewhere with his name on it and we just haven't found it yet." It has been suggested that after his escape from captivity, Solomon worked for the Underground Railroad which helped other slaves escape from the southern states, mainly to Canada, but as yet there is no conclusive evidence. Professor Brown concedes that, even now, aspects of Solomon's life remain hard to pin down. "For instance, the engraving of Solomon in the book's first edition I believe probably is a likeness of him, though no one can be sure. And it's even possible a photograph existed - photography was just starting in the 1850s. It's something we're actively trying to track down." Perhaps if there were more visual evidence for Solomon's life, he wouldn't have disappeared into the shadows the way he did for most of the 20th Century. Screenwriter John Ridley laments that currently we can't write the last act of Solomon Northup's extraordinary life-story. "He died invisibly and anonymously. That's kind of a sad irony: to disappear for 12 years, to be liberated and indeed become a bit of a celebrity… And then just vanish again. "Hopefully with all the new interest in him, someone will be able to discover exactly what did happen to Solomon. That would be wonderful."

10 बाफ्टा और सात गोल्डन ग्लोब नामांकनों के साथ, 12 इयर्स ए स्लेव इस पुरस्कार सीज़न को जीतने के लिए तैयार है। यह फिल्म 150 साल पुराने विवरण पर आधारित है कि कैसे सोलोमन नॉर्थप, एक स्वतंत्र व्यक्ति के रूप में पैदा हुए, को गुलामी में अपहरण कर लिया गया था। लेकिन नॉर्थप कौन था और हाल तक उसे लगभग क्यों भुला दिया गया था?


Beyonce reunites Destiny's Child at Coachella

Summary: Destiny's Child have performed together at Coachella.

Beyonce brought band mates Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams on stage during her headline set at the festival in California last night. The trio began their surprise performance with their 2004 hit Lose My Breath, followed by Say My Name and Soldier. It's the first time they have appeared together since the Stellar Gospel Music Awards in 2015. The 36-year-old singer's show took a military theme, beginning with a rendition of her 2003 hit Crazy In Love played by a marching band. Dancers wore black berets and yellow hoodies decorated with military-style sashes, and leotards with epaulettes. The nearly two-hour set included quotes from civil rights activist Malcolm X and feminist author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, as well as samples of Nina Simone. It also featured a rendition of Lift Every Voice and Sing, a song often referred to as the "Black American National Anthem". Beyonce's set closed the second day of the three-day festival in Indio, California, which will end tonight with Eminem. The Texan singer had been due to play Coachella last year, but was forced to pull out after becoming pregnant with twins Rumi and Sir. Rumours that Destiny's Child would reform for this year's festival have been circulating for months. But band member Kelly Rowland had dismissed them, telling People magazine in December: "I have no idea about any of that." Destiny's Child are one of the most successful female groups of all time. They had 14 UK Top 40 songs, and two UK Number 1s. On Saturday night the trio rose to the stage on a platform, standing back to back in a Charlie's Angels-style formation, a nod to their 2001 hit Independent Women Pt. 1, which appeared on the film's soundtrack. Their jewel-encrusted camouflage outfits echoed those worn in the iconic video for their song Survivor. They performed energetic dance routines with lunges, high kicks and salutes, walking among the festival crowd on a raised walkway. Beyonce's set took in the breadth of her 16-year solo career, including songs Baby Boy, 7/11 and Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It). Jay-Z also joined his wife on stage for a performance of their 2012 song Deja Vu, while Solange later came on stage to dance with her elder sister. Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra - if you miss us you can listen back here.

डेस्टिनीज चाइल्ड ने कोचेला में एक साथ प्रदर्शन किया है।


'Cashpoint aid' and Africa: Who benefits?

Summary: Across Africa the news that a former colonial power, the UK, is to take a more strategic, political, hard-nosed approach to the way it spends its overseas aid budget, has been greeted with a mixture of frustration and cynicism.

By Andrew HardingAfrica correspondent, BBC News In announcing a merger between the Foreign Office (FCO) and the Department of International Development (DfID), Prime Minister Boris Johnson argued that the UK should be directing more attention and money towards countering Russian influence in nearby eastern Europe, and, by implication, spending less money in distant former colonies like Zambia and Tanzania where "for too long British overseas aid has been treated as some giant cashpoint in the sky". In Ghana, the head of the West African Civil Society Institute, Nana Afadzinu, criticised the British move as part of a broader trend of Western countries becoming "more myopic and inward-looking." She said Covid-19 had exacerbated the trend, as had Brexit. "Building international solidarity, supporting issues like human rights and an international development system - these are not going to be important [for foreign donors] any more," she said. "The challenge for us, for African leaders, is to unite, to stand as one." An old battleground The link with Brexit, and Britain's search for a new global role outside the European Union, appears clear. Supporting the merger of the FCO and DfID, the UK's former Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, spoke of the need for London to have a stronger voice on the African continent in order to counter Chinese influence. "In Africa today, there is competition - intense competition - between countries such as China that do not promote democracy and human rights as part of their aid agenda, and countries such as Britain that do," he said. "And if we are going to support those British values, we need to speak with one voice." But the notion of Africa as a battleground for competing outside influences has a long and troubled history on the continent - from the 19th Century colonial "scramble for Africa", through the Cold War's proxy conflicts, to the US and China's growing rivalry, and even today's struggle to access Covid-19 medicine. Many involved in the aid and development world argue that the UK, like other former colonial powers, still owes the continent a huge debt for the wealth it extracted - and continues to extract in the form of African doctors and nurses, for instance, who are encouraged to emigrate to the West. Indeed, one insider angrily complained that it was Africa which was still treated like a "cashpoint" by the West, rather than the other way round. 'Rolls Royce v Vauxhall Astra' In Kenya, Degan Ali, who runs the non-governmental organisation Adeso, said Britain's announcement simply revealed what had always been the case - that foreign aid has always been part of a Western-run global system that perpetuates patterns of inequality and poverty. "I think in many ways aid policies have always been dictated by foreign policy, especially in former colonies," she said. "I think the whole [British] merger is just a confirmation - making official what has been unofficial. This is all part of the same humanitarian and development architecture that perpetuates structures of inequality." You may also be interested in: But in recent years, DfID has earned a strong reputation across much of Africa as one of the best - if not the best - development agencies of its kind, and a loud and important voice in steering aid money away from corrupt or ineffectual governments and deals. "Why would you take away a Rolls Royce and replace it with a Vauxhall Astra?" asked another regional expert with close knowledge of DfID, who asked not to be identified, but who shared the widespread concern that the changes might damage, rather than strengthen, the UK's global influence and reputation. "By weakening [DfID's] voice in strategic discussions you'll see quicker decisions, but of poorer quality," the expert warned. "It's a significant loss of [British] soft power and DfID will lose a lot of technical competence and transparency." 'Aid addiction' A departmental reshuffle in far-away Britain in the middle of a global pandemic might seem like a relatively trivial event - and indeed there are plenty of people who argue that the merger may prove successful, and point to other Western nations like Canada which have already done something similar. Others say that decades of Western development aid have proved spectacularly ineffective in addressing poverty and that what Africa really needs - and many point to tiny Rwanda as a leading example - is a determination to wean itself off all-too-addictive Western aid altogether. "There's always been a scramble for Africa, an attempt to partition Africa, and now we have China playing a huge role too," says Ms Afadzinu in Ghana. "And I don't think Africans are blind to it. We need to be bold enough to take a stance against Western power and influence. "But unfortunately there's always a divide between francophone and anglophone Africa. "There's always this insidious work being done to make sure those fault lines are deepened. We are pawns in the hands of these different global powers and our leaders have not risen up to the challenge."

अफ्रीका भर में यह खबर कि एक पूर्व औपनिवेशिक शक्ति, ब्रिटेन, अपने विदेशी सहायता बजट को खर्च करने के तरीके के लिए एक अधिक रणनीतिक, राजनीतिक, कठोर दृष्टिकोण अपना रहा है, का निराशा और सनकीपन के मिश्रण के साथ स्वागत किया गया है।


Gatwick to London rail services resume after closure

Summary: A major rail link between Gatwick Airport and London has reopened after a week of closures.

The Gatwick Express service, which links the West Sussex airport with London Victoria, closed on 26 December. Maintenance on the line between Redhill in Surrey and Purley in south London was carried out during the shutdown. Southern, First Capital Connect and First Great Western services to the airport were disrupted. A new platform was also built at Gatwick Airport during the closure, with the associated changes to track and signalling. Platform seven is due to be open from February.

गैटविक हवाई अड्डे और लंदन के बीच एक प्रमुख रेल संपर्क एक सप्ताह के बंद रहने के बाद फिर से खुल गया है।


Charles Taylor: Murder probe after elderly man dies

Summary: A murder investigation has been launched following the death of an elderly man in Dorset.

Charles Taylor, aged 82, was treated in hospital for a serious head injury following reports of an assault in Phyldon Close, Poole, on 17 December. Dorset Police said Mr Taylor died on Tuesday evening. Matthew Locks, 26, from Poole, appeared in court on 19 December charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent. His case was adjourned until 17 January at Bournemouth Crown Court. Related Internet Links Dorset Police

डोरसेट में एक बुजुर्ग व्यक्ति की मौत के बाद हत्या की जांच शुरू की गई है।


Milton Keynes at 50: Success town has 'nothing to be ashamed of'

Summary: In January 1967 plans for a new town were given the go-ahead and soon a quiet Buckinghamshire village became the vast development of Milton Keynes. Fifty years on, what do people living in one of the UK's best-known "new towns" think of it?

When then housing minister Anthony Greenwood granted permission to transform 8,850 hectares of villages and farmland into a town of 250,000 people, little did he know the part concrete cows would play in its story. The vision for Milton Keynes was grand in scale - part of the third and final phase of the government's plans to relocate populations following World War Two. Almost inevitably, a small art project created some 10 years later became the focal point for a sceptical national media. But five decades on, Milton Keynes has become home to more than 10,000 businesses and is used as a model for new towns across the world. Though sometimes mocked for those cows and its proliferation of roundabouts, Milton Keynes has "nothing to be ashamed of", according to its deputy mayor David Hopkins. Mr Hopkins was one of the town's 40,000 original residents when he relocated from rural Buckinghamshire with his parents, who he admits were initially "horrified" at the concept of the new town. What has MK done for us? Like most other residents they came to love it because, Mr Hopkins says, Milton Keynes is "the place to be". "We're the place where people want to come and live, and we're the place with an identity all of its own - it's much more than concrete cows and roundabouts," he says. "We've moved from being a rural part of North Buckinghamshire to one of the most successful economies and one of the most successful cities in the UK over the last 50 years - it's never the same two days running so why would I want to live anywhere else?" Mr Hopkins likens growing up in a new town to going on a cruise. "You take your cabin with you but you go to a different destination every day, every week. Milton Keynes has been a bit like that because we're moving to different destinations through every decade in the last 50 years," he says. Council leader Pete Marland has an even grander analogy. He believes the town's inhabitants were similar to US residents who first went over the Appalachian Mountains with entrepreneurial ambition. "[They thought] 'I'll go to Milton Keynes and I'll have a better life for myself', and I think that's really transferred to the new generation of people," says Mr Marland. While he does not believe another new town on the scale of Milton Keynes will ever be constructed in England again, Mr Marland hopes the next 50 years will see Milton Keynes transform from a "plan into a place". "One of the greatest potentials that we have in Milton Keynes is that we have no undergraduate university, and that's a huge opportunity... in the centre of Milton Keynes," he adds. The town is also hoping to become the European City of Culture in 2023, something deputy mayor Mr Hopkins is confident can be achieved. MK at 50 In 2013 Milton Keynes had a population of 255,700 - 43,000 more than 12 years before, according to official statistics. The 20.2% growth was far higher than the average of 8.9% for England. But the town slipped 40 places in a ranking of the best places to live in the country published by uSwitch in 2015. It placed the town 97th out of 138 UK regions, praising its good employment rates and incomes, but noting that the cost of living was "very high". Despite that, Jim Murray, 62, says he "wouldn't want to live anywhere else". Mr Murray, an environmental health enforcement officer, says: "I love the landscape, the planning applications that have gone into it, the layout, the parks, the trees, everything really." His passion for the town is shared by photographer Gill Prince, who has lived there for 25 years. The 49-year-old has produced a photography art book to mark the town's anniversary - titled Unexpected:MK - featuring landscapes from around the city. "I know how fantastic Milton Keynes is, I know how many beautiful places there are, but even people who live here don't always know about them," Ms Prince says. "It's a fabulous place - all the lakes and the parks - there are just so many things to do and part of what I wanted to achieve as a photographer was to demonstrate those to other people so that they could see and maybe go there. "I really don't want to live anywhere else. I love being here and I love everything its got." Celebrations to mark the 50th birthday and demonstrate the town's plans for the future will kick off on 10 January with an exhibition that tells the story of Milton Keynes' development.

जनवरी 1967 में एक नए शहर की योजनाओं को मंजूरी दी गई और जल्द ही एक शांत बकिंघमशायर गाँव मिल्टन कीन्स का विशाल विकास बन गया। पचास साल बाद, ब्रिटेन के सबसे प्रसिद्ध "नए शहरों" में से एक में रहने वाले लोग इसके बारे में क्या सोचते हैं?


Hirwaun crash: Investigation as driver, 19, killed

Summary: Police are investigating after a 19-year-old driver died in a crash in Rhondda Cynon Taf.

The man was declared dead after the crash, which involved no other vehicles, on the A465 northbound carriageway on Monday. The road, between Glynneath and Hirwaun, was shut for six hours after the crash, at about 16:50 GMT. South Wales Police said the victim's family was being supported by specialist officers. Officers have issued an appeal for witnesses.

रोंडा सिनोन ताफ में एक दुर्घटना में 19 वर्षीय चालक की मौत के बाद पुलिस जांच कर रही है।


Mark McDonald's whirlwind political career

Summary: Former childcare minister Mark McDonald's was the surprise winner of a seat to Holyrood in 2011. He was steadily climbing the ranks of government when his progress came to an abrupt halt following allegations of inappropriate behaviour. Mr McDonald has now quit the SNP although he remains the independent MSP for Aberdeen Donside.

By Philip SimBBC Scotland political reporter The 37-year-old was born and raised in North East Scotland, hailing from Inverurie. After studying politics and strategy at university in Dundee and Aberdeen, he entered politics in 2003, working as a parliamentary assistant to a group of North East MSPs. He was elected to Aberdeen City Council four years later, and despite being just 26 at the time became deputy leader of the SNP group on the council. After an unsuccessful bid to win election to Westminster in 2010, where he finished fourth in the Aberdeen South race, Mr McDonald was elected to Holyrood as a regional MSP in 2011. His arrival at the Scottish Parliament was part of Alex Salmond's unprecedented landslide victory, which saw the SNP effectively break the system to secure a majority by capturing both constituency and regional top-up seats. Mr McDonald's election was unexpected - with the SNP winning all ten constituency seats in the area, the additional member system should have made it impossible for them to pick up extras from the list, but for the sheer volume of votes. The councillor was fifth on the list and actually turned up to the election count in Aberdeen wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but found himself elected after all of the list candidates ahead of him won constituency seats. He wasn't a list MSP for long. SNP colleague Brian Adam, who had served as an MSP since the inception of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, lost his battle with cancer in April 2013. Mr McDonald was selected as the SNP candidate to fight the Aberdeen Donside by-election. He had to quit his list seat to do so, although the SNP were guaranteed to keep it in any case. In the end they were also destined to keep the constituency seat, with Mr McDonald winning fairly comfortably - although the SNP majority in the area was cut from more than 7,000 to just over 2,000 on the night. Other candidates in the ballot included Lib Dem Christine Jardine and Tory Ross Thomson, both of whom are now MPs, but it was longstanding Labour councillor Willie Young who came closest to an upset. As a backbench MSP, Mr McDonald served on a number of committees, and was a parliamentary assistant both to Mr Salmond and Deputy First Minister John Swinney. He frequently championed better support for people with autism, and also managed to pass a member's bill to tackle disputes over high hedges. In the 2016 election, Mr McDonald held his seat with a majority of 11,630 votes - the biggest numerical margin in the country, and the eighth largest by percentage of the vote, making Aberdeen Donside one of the safest seats in Scotland. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon appointed him a junior minister following the election, working under Mr Swinney again as minister for childcare and early years. During his time in this job, he was central to the rollout of the government's baby box scheme and Ms Sturgeon's flagship pledge to double the number of hours of free childcare available to Scottish parents. In November 2017, the MSP quit his ministerial role after reports he had sent a text message to a woman containing a reference to a sex act - the latest entry in a growing furore about sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour in politics. In a statement, he said: "It has been brought to my attention that some of my previous actions have been considered to be inappropriate - where I have believed myself to have been merely humorous or attempting to be friendly, my behaviour might have made others uncomfortable or led them to question my intentions." Initially, he was backed by the government, and his party. A spokesman for Ms Sturgeon said it was right for Mr McDonald to apologise and recognise that "in his current role it would be inappropriate for him to remain in government". However, they stressed that he would "continue to make a valuable contribution to parliament" as an MSP, saying it was "to Mark's credit" that he had taken responsibility for his behaviour. Over a week later, Mr McDonald made a further statement on the matter, saying his actions had caused "considerable distress and upset", and said he had agreed to seek professional "support". But days after this, the 37-year-old was suspended by the SNP after "new information" emerged about his conduct. He was axed from both the parliamentary group and the party itself, leaving him sitting as an independent MSP - although he was never seen at Holyrood again. Even in his absence he managed to find himself at the centre of another outcry, after it emerged he was in line for a payoff for leaving his ministerial role. The £7,270 "resettlement grant" was automatically triggered 90 days after his resignation under the Scottish Parliamentary Pensions Act 2009, but opposition members said it was "clearly wrong" that a payment should be made to Mr McDonald "considering the circumstances of his departure". The SNP's probe into the matter dragged on for more than three months - with Transport Minister Humza Yousaf conceding in February that it was "perhaps taking more time than it should". Mr McDonald himself said he was not informed of the allegations made against him for almost two months, and even as he resigned from the SNP said he had only been allowed to read the investigation report and was not given a copy. He said that his "behaviour towards two individuals fell below the level of professionalism that they were entitled to expect". However he said he would return to Holyrood as an independent member after taking some time with his family.

पूर्व बाल देखभाल मंत्री मार्क मैकडॉनल्ड्स 2011 में होलीरूड के लिए एक सीट के आश्चर्यजनक विजेता थे। वह लगातार सरकार के पदों पर चढ़ रहे थे जब अनुचित व्यवहार के आरोपों के बाद उनकी प्रगति अचानक रुक गई। श्री मैकडॉनल्ड्स ने अब एसएनपी छोड़ दिया है, हालांकि वे एबरडीन डॉन्साइड के लिए स्वतंत्र एमएसपी बने हुए हैं।


Plans to cut Welsh councils cause split in north

Summary: Radical plans to cut councils in Wales from 22 to eight have been published. A big question remains over future changes in north Wales. Should the region be re-organised into two or three authorities? Tom Bodden takes a closer look at reaction and opinion north of Powys.

By Tom BoddenPolitical analyst North Wales council chiefs are split over radical plans to carve the region up into two or three authorities, as unions warn of job cuts and privatisation. Public Services Minister Leighton Andrews insisted the case was "compelling and widely accepted". But opposition is widespread and varied, even within his own party. Aaron Shotton, Labour leader of Flintshire, wants more devolved power to councils and major reform of the ailing financial structures. "Mergers alone are not radical enough to cope with the financial pressures facing councils over the next three years alone," he said. Flintshire deputy leader and Labour councillor Bernie Attridge called the plans "political suicide", adding Welsh Labour needed "urgent change at the top". Remote Wrexham council's leader, independent councillor Mark Pritchard, said Welsh ministers had been "foolish and rushed" in their plans and were taking the people for granted ahead of next year's assembly election. "Senior politicians are sitting in ivory towers in Cardiff and lack respect for local democracy. "I would ask the people of Wales if you had £400m to spend where would you use it, on council reorganisation or in schools, swimming pools, and hospitals? I know which I would pick." Anglesey council was placed under special measures by the Welsh government for two years in 2011, after years of political infighting, and the minister told AMs the island authority did not have an "elegant history". But new independent leader of a reformed Anglesey Ieuan Williams claimed authorities covering populations of up to 300,000 would make local democracy remote. "There is a lack of understanding among Cardiff Bay politicians, they think they can click their fingers and things happen but local government is far too complex for that," he said. "The Welsh government needs to decide if it is for local democracy. We are in danger of becoming one of the most centralised countries in Europe." Plaid stronghold He questioned whether the proposed reforms would actually save money, and said the total costs could be around £300m, when authorities were struggling to achieve swingeing cuts in spending. The future for the north is still uncertain with proposals suggesting either two super authorities comprising Gwynedd, Anglesey and Conwy in the north west, and Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire in the north east. An alternative allows further consultation over three councils, with Denbighshire joining with Conwy instead. Leading councillors suggested that the two authorities proposal could deliver a Plaid Cymru stronghold to the west and Labour to the east. Others questioned whether Gwynedd's policy strongly promoting the Welsh language could be put at risk from a merger with authorities with a less strict approach. 'Greatest fear' Geoff Edkins, Unison's regional organiser, said that estimates based on the Welsh Local Government Association's figures, warned of 15,000 workers in Wales facing redundancy in merged authorities, including around 4,000 in north Wales. Wednesday's announcement has prolonged the uncertainty for the union's members in the north. Financial pressures on council spending has already prompted some to look to close or to privatise services, he said, like libraries, leisure, welfare rights and home care. "Whether the outcome is two or three authorities in north Wales is uncertain and will remain so till after the assembly elections and possibly up till 2020. Yet sticking as we are isn't tenable," he said. "The greatest fear for our members is the loss of jobs and privatisation. They wonder just what services will be left to be merged." 'Glimmer of light' Hugh Evans the independent leader of Denbighshire council said that merging the county into a new authority with Flintshire and Wrexham was his "worst fear realised". Denbighshire and Conwy had reached a voluntary agreement for merger which was earlier rejected by Leighton Andrews. But he is now suggesting that the arrangement could go out to consultation in a model of three new north Wales authorities. Mr Evans said the scale of the two council models in the north would be a major concern and saw a "glimmer of light" in the further consultation. "There are also the cultural and linguistic differences with the strong urban industrial areas against the rural areas, particularly in Denbighshire," he said. "It should be about how best to deliver local services not about boundaries," he said, adding that the Williams Commission which drew up proposals for 10 or 11 authorities "seemed to be a complete waste of time and money". No final decisions "Two authorities would take communities further away from the decision makers. I would be really concerned. Haven't we learned the lessons of the Betsi Cadwaladr health board? "This whole process is a distraction beyond 2020 when we should be concentrating on providing services." But Dyfed Edwards, Plaid Cymru leader of Gwynedd council, said that reform of the map of local government was essential and needed political leadership in all parties. He added: "Will someone please get on with it? If the status quo isn't sustainable, then tell us what is. "I think personally one council for north west and one for north east Wales makes sense in terms of spatial planning. "The big question is over health and social care, where we have a health board across the whole of north Wales." Mr Andrews said no final decisions had been taken. "The case in north Wales is finely balanced between two or three local authorities. We therefore feel that there is a case for a further debate and would welcome views," he said. "I want to emphasise this is not a final decision. It is the next phase in our public debate."

वेल्स में परिषदों को 22 से घटाकर आठ करने की कट्टरपंथी योजनाएँ प्रकाशित की गई हैं। उत्तरी वेल्स में भविष्य के परिवर्तनों पर एक बड़ा सवाल बना हुआ है। क्या इस क्षेत्र को दो या तीन प्राधिकरणों में फिर से संगठित किया जाना चाहिए? टॉम बोडेन पॉव्स के उत्तर में प्रतिक्रिया और राय पर करीब से नज़र डालते हैं।


'How I made fathers in Senegal carry babies on their backs'

Summary: Marta Moreiras and the subjects of her portraits - fathers carrying babies on their backs - were surprised by the attention they attracted as she took their photographs on the streets of Senegal's capital Dakar.

"People were clapping - sometimes it was a bit hard to take the picture because we were having such a large audience," the Spanish photographer told the BBC. "All the women were like: 'Hey, give me five, I'm going to call my husband - we don't see this every day." And that is exactly why Moreiras started her project, which has been shortlisted for the portraiture category of this year's Sony World Photography Awards Professional competition. The idea came to her when she was looking through her photo archive, which for Senegal goes back to 2008. "I realised that I had tonnes of pictures of mummies with babies on their back, but I just wondered why I didn't have any of men." When she began phoning up some of her male Senegalese friends who had babies, most said that they would carry children on their backs if they were at home - but never outside. "There's a big division here between public spaces and private spaces… and it's very important what others think of you," says Moreiras. Yet her research and interviews revealed that men do play a significant child-caring role, not least because Dakar is expensive and couples often both have to work. "That will force them to start dividing tasks. "And when I asked the men if they actually participated in the education of their children and if they helped at home they were like: 'Well, yes I'm forced to, my wife, she works as well - she can't just take on all the different tasks.' "But whenever you see a picture of a baby you never see a dad with them or playing with them or taking them to school or washing them," she said. This is how she first coaxed her interviewees into having their portraits taken. "I'd say: 'All right, so to make it more visible - this role of the dad - I want to take a photo of you with your child.'" When they agreed to that, she'd say she would like the baby to be on their backs instead of in their arms - this too they happily agreed to, hesitation only setting in when she asked them to move outside to give the portrait "a more interesting setting". "We don't do that, we don't take children to the street on our backs," was the general response - but Moreiras's persistence paid off. "The whole reaction on streets was very cool, so the guy I was photographing began to feel more comfortable about it." The portraits she shot over a two- to three-month period were exhibited last May at Dak'Art, the African Contemporary Art Biennale, when the whole of Dakar becomes an art gallery. And they certainly became a subject of debate - given the inspired decision to stage her exhibition at les parcours sportifs - a big open space on the main seafront thronged by those in pursuit of the body beautiful as it is full of gym equipment. "Ninety-nine per cent of people who go there are men, showing their masculine, macho side," she said. But they were also of an age when they were becoming fathers - the perfect target audience, says Moreiras. One photo in particular had a great impact as it was of a popular rapper, Badou, known for his machismo. "He has a public image, and everyone recognises him. It's important in this project that some recognisable people are included to be role models and open the debate to realise there is nothing wrong with it," the photographer said. There were some public figures who turned her down when she approached them as they were concerned about public attitudes. For Moreiras, who has eight of her portraits from the series in the World Photography Awards, it will be a "never-ending project". "I'm still working on it - I'm happy to have as many daddies as possible because I believe that to destroy this stereotype of mums with babies, that we have seen forever, we need to do at least the same amount of images with men." Pictures by Marta Moreiras. Winners of the 2019 Sony World Photography Awards Professional competition will be announced on 17 April 2019. All shortlisted series will be exhibited at Somerset House in London from 18 April until 6 May 2019.

मार्टा मोरेरास और उनके चित्रों के विषय-पीठ पर बच्चों को लिए हुए पिता-सेनेगल की राजधानी डकार की सड़कों पर उनकी तस्वीरें लेते समय उनके ध्यान आकर्षित करने से आश्चर्यचकित थे।


'Salman Rushdie radicalised my generation'

Summary: It's Valentine's day 1989. Margaret Thatcher is prime minister and Kylie, Yazz and Bros are making noise. Far away, Iran's supreme leader issues a fatwa demanding the death of British author Salman Rushdie - and the effect on young Muslims in the UK is huge.

By Mobeen AzharBBC News Alyas Karmani was soaking up everything student life had to offer. He'd grown up in Tooting, south London, in a traditional Pakistani household, his father a bus driver and trade unionist. Religion was an important part of Alyas's upbringing but not something he was particularly interested in. "We were obedient to our parents. We'd go to the mosque when it was required but we had a clandestine double-life existence," he says. "We were partying, smoking weed, going out with girls and doing everything we could possibly do." So when it was time to choose a university, Alyas ran away from his Pakistani Muslim identity and headed 400 miles north to Glasgow. "I was running as fast as possible. I was a 'self-hating Paki'. I didn't want brown friends. All my friends were white liberal mainstream types. That was my crowd." In Glasgow, Alyas would become an important fixture on the student scene. He ran club nights and loved music and dancing. "I had a wonderful time and then something really inconvenient happened in 1989." That inconvenience was Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa - imposed on Salman Rushdie for his novel, the Satanic Verses, which was widely considered blasphemous in the Muslim world. While Alyas didn't think Rushdie should die, he also didn't think The Satanic Verses was OK. Now he found himself being blamed for a fatwa that had nothing to do with him. "I thought these friends understood and accepted me but now they were pointing fingers. The conversations went like this: 'What's wrong with you people? Why are you doing this? Why have you put a death threat on Salman Rushdie? What side are you on? Are you with us or against us?' It was really as stark as that." Alyas had felt uncomfortable going to mosques, which back in the 1980s were run almost exclusively by older South Asian men whose first language was not English. So Alyas went searching for Islamic guidance from younger, English-speaking Muslims and found it. Under their influence, he reconnected with the faith of his parent's generation, but took it in a much more radical direction - the focus was on global Muslim identity rather than personal morality or spirituality. "It was a counterculture. It had a dress code and a language. I left my non-Muslim friends and when I left university, I completely devoted myself to the movement," he says. "It all started with the publication of the Satanic Verses and how people pushed me away. That's why I always say I am one of Rushdie's children. I was radicalised by white liberals." The Salafi school of thought Alyas became part of is more puritanical than traditional South Asian Islam, and has overt political leanings. Some of the people Alyas associated with ended up fighting in Bosnia, as members of the Bosnian army. He never made it to the battlefield, he says because his skills "were in promoting ideology". Find out more Listen to the 10-part series, Fatwa, from BBC Radio 4, or download the podcast The Satanic Verses: 30 Years On will be broadcast on BBC Two at 21:00 on Wednesday 27 February Today, Alyas has softened his approach. "Back then we only saw binary options: good or bad. With or against. Halal or haram. Now I prefer shades of grey," he says. He remains a devout Muslim who champions "the middle way". He is an unconventional imam and psychologist. He offers his congregations in Huddersfield and Bradford advice on everything from sex and relationships to mental health. Ed Husain was a few years younger than Alyas when The Satanic Verses was published. Still at school, he was excited when his father took him to Hyde Park to protest against the book. The demonstration saw coachloads of Muslims travel from Glasgow, Bradford, Birmingham and elsewhere - altogether about 20,000 arrived. Communal prayers, which had mostly been reserved for within the mosque, were now taking place in London's public places. Effigies of Rushdie were burnt and placards threatening violence were common. When Ed's father saw people burning The Satanic Verses in Hyde Park, he decided it was time to leave. At home, Ed's father told him they weren't "that kind of Muslim" but the protest had piqued Ed's interest. He began to attend East London Mosque without his father and was inspired by English-speaking imams who were happy to talk politics. 'I came out as Muslim' Salman Rushdie was a hero for Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, then a journalist on the New Statesman - not only for his writing but also because he had spoken publicly about racism in Britain. So she read the book. "I wasn't offended. I'm not that kind of Muslim but I did wonder, 'Why are you doing this?' It read to me as deliberately provocative," she says. When Muslims started burning the book, many of Yasmin's white friends were disgusted. "It very quickly became 'them and us'. At dinner parties, if I said anything about disagreeing with Rushdie, people would walk out! That's how difficult it became." Yasmin describes what followed as "a moment of awakening". "I came out as a Muslim. I said: 'I'm a Muslim. My mother's Muslim. My family's Muslim. The white liberals I worked with were shocked. They'd never seen me that way. It was inconvenient for them." "The fatwa gave prominence to the East London Mosque because they were the guys who were shouting loudest. They were the people who were protesting outside Downing Street. They had an ideology that made them relevant," he says. This new zeal for political Islam culminated with Ed's father delivering an ultimatum - if Ed was going to live under his roof he had to give up Islamist politics. It was a stark choice between what Ed viewed as the mundane worldly comfort of his parent's home or the divine cause of serving the global Muslim community. Ed chose the latter. He ran away from home. The adventure was short-lived as his father wanted him back under his roof, but in the following years Ed continued down the path of radicalisation. "I moved to even more extremist organizations like Hizb ut-Tahrir who believed in a global caliphate," he says. Ed's religious identity was shaped by notions of global injustice and suffering rather than spirituality. "The parks in which we'd protested against Salman Rushdie were now being used to protest against UK foreign policy. We'd gone from opposing an author to opposing the British government. We'd been completely politicised." While at college, Ed witnessed a deadly attack on a young boy who was believed to be Christian. He says it was the result of a "Muslim supremacist mindset". The Satanic Verses "The person who killed him had come on to campus and said, 'If you have any problem with kuffar (non-Muslims) call me.' A few weeks later I saw this kid stabbed, wounded lying on the street, convulsing." It was a wake-up call. Ed realised he'd lost sight of everything he'd loved about his faith. He distanced himself from Hizb ut-Tahrir. Later he became an adviser to Tony Blair, and one of the founding members of the anti-extremist think tank, Quilliam. Follow Mobeen Azhar on Twitter Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.

यह वेलेंटाइन दिवस 1989 है। मार्गरेट थैचर प्रधान मंत्री हैं और काइली, याज और ब्रदर्स शोर मचा रहे हैं। दूर, ईरान के सर्वोच्च नेता ने ब्रिटिश लेखक सलमान रुश्दी की मृत्यु की मांग करते हुए एक फतवा जारी किया-और यूके में युवा मुसलमानों पर प्रभाव बहुत बड़ा है।


Five Covid numbers to watch: Has Scotland's 'second wave' peaked?

Summary: The number of daily deaths from Covid-19 in Scotland's second wave has begun to go down. Hospital admissions are also declining, as are infection rates in the worst affected areas. Has Scotland's second wave peaked, or is there still danger ahead? Here are five numbers to watch.

By Christopher SleightBBC Scotland news 1. Local infection rates Across the whole of Scotland, the average number of new cases every day is no longer rising. The figure appears to have peaked towards the end of October and has mainly been going down since then. However, there are still significant areas of Scotland where cases are on the rise and this remains a concern for the Scottish government as it attempts to slow the spread of the virus. On 20 November, the 11 local authorities with the highest infection rates were moved to level four, which has the toughest set of restrictions under Scotland's five-tier system. The three worst-affected local authorities in level four at the end of last week were Glasgow City, North Lanarkshire, and Renfrewshire. The infection rate in North Lanarkshire has mainly been declining since mid-October. The rate also now appears to be going down in Glasgow after several weeks at "stubbornly high" levels - as ministers have repeatedly noted. However, there's no such decline evident in Renfrewshire, which has seen fluctuating rates between 200 and 300 cases per 100,000 since early October. It's worth nothing that South Lanarkshire, which reached almost 400 cases per 100,000 people in October, has shown a sustained decline in infections since then. But it's not just the local authorities with the highest rates that cause concern. Anywhere which shows a big increase in cases over a short period will catch the attention of public health officials, who want to stop the virus becoming seated in a new community. Two weeks ago the focus was on Angus, Fife and Perth and Kinross, which all moved from level two to level three restrictions after a sharp rise in cases. Despite a dip in the number of cases in Fife, it's too soon to tell if the rate will show a sustained decline here - and in Perth and Kinross the rate is still very much on the rise. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also highlighted significant rises in Stirling and Inverclyde. The rate in Inverclyde is now declining, but it's still going up in Stirling - as it is in neighbouring Clackmannanshire, which up until October had seen some of the lowest infection rates across the central belt. Infection rates are not the only indicator the Scottish government uses to review levels, but they are a key measure to watch. 2. The number being admitted to hospital across Scotland The daily number of new confirmed cases of Covid-19 is an important statistic - but it is difficult to make a comparison between now and March using this figure as the number of people being tested has risen so significantly. One number that is arguably a better gauge of where Scotland is in its second wave is hospital admissions. The daily admissions for Covid-19 in Scotland hit a low in mid-July. They then started a slow rise which gathered pace into the autumn, but for the last two weeks the average number of admissions has mainly been going down. If this decline is sustained, the peak will have been significantly lower than in the spring. 3. How many patients end up in intensive care The sickest Covid-19 patients are likely to end up in intensive care, where the mortality rate is high. A report by Public Health Scotland published in July found that almost 40% of coronavirus patients died within 30 days of being admitted to intensive care. The number of daily ICU admissions began to rise at the end of the summer - there were six Covid-19 patients in intensive care on 11 September and there were 111 on 8 November. Numbers have been fluctuating in the last few weeks, but there doesn't yet appear to be the same decline in ICU admissions seen in hospital admissions. 4. The number of deaths from Covid-19 The Scottish government announces daily figures of deaths within 28 days of a positive test for Covid-19. Scotland went 40 days over the summer with no deaths recorded at all using this measure. The average number of new Covid-19 deaths being registered each day rose steadily from mid-September, but has now begun to decline. The National Records of Scotland counts all death certificates that mention Covid-19, even if the person has not been tested for the virus. A similar pattern is evident with this measure, with the first decline in weekly deaths since the beginning of October recorded last week. 5. Who is getting infected? It appears that daily hospital admissions have peaked at a much lower rate than they did in the spring, so why is that when the number of new cases has undoubtedly surged in the past two months? One reason could be that fewer over-65s are being infected now than they were in the early stages of Scotland's pandemic in the spring. Younger age groups are much less likely to end up in hospital, or die, from Covid-19. This next chart shows that there were more infections among younger age groups at the start of Scotland's second wave, with that steep rise in mid-September driven by outbreaks in student accommodation. Infection rates among older age groups began to rise in September and October, but now appear to have stabilised. So has Scotland's second wave peaked? The decline in both death rates and hospital admissions is encouraging, but there are significant risks ahead. Local outbreaks are still occurring and health officials will be very aware that the relaxation of restrictions over Christmas will likely cause an increase in infections. The Scottish government and NHS Scotland will be working to drive cases as low as possible before Christmas to avoid that increase turning into a new surge.

स्कॉटलैंड की दूसरी लहर में कोविड-19 से होने वाली दैनिक मौतों की संख्या कम होनी शुरू हो गई है। अस्पताल में भर्ती होने वालों की संख्या भी कम हो रही है, साथ ही सबसे अधिक प्रभावित क्षेत्रों में संक्रमण की दर भी कम हो रही है। क्या स्कॉटलैंड की दूसरी लहर चरम पर है, या अभी भी खतरा है? यहाँ देखने के लिए पाँच संख्याएँ हैं।


The tip-off from a Nazi that saved my grandparents

Summary: When Alexander Bodin Saphir's Jewish grandfather was measuring a high-ranking Nazi for a suit in Copenhagen 75 years ago he got an important tip-off - the Jews were about to be rounded up and deported. It has often been described as a "miracle" that most of Denmark's Jews escaped the Holocaust. Now it seems that the country's Nazi rulers deliberately sabotaged their own operation.

It was a cold October night 75 years ago when my grandparents, Fanny and Raphael Bodin, stood on the dock of a harbour on the east coast of Denmark with their 15-month-old daughter, Lis, in their arms. I imagine they peered into the darkness, nervously awaiting the fisherman who would take them across the water to the safety of neutral Sweden. Until that point the Jews of Denmark - unlike those in other parts of occupied Europe - had been free to go about their business. But now the order had been given to transport them to Germany "for processing". So my grandparents and aunt fled. As they boarded the fishing boat they handed the fisherman a substantial sum of money for the hour-long boat trip across the Oresund - the narrow stretch of water between Denmark and Sweden. Then it started to rain and my aunt began to cry. The fisherman, fearing the Germans would hear her cries, ordered my grandparents either to leave their child on the dock or get off the boat. They chose the latter and watched as the boat cast off for Sweden with their money and perhaps their last chance of escape. Fortunately, it wasn't their last chance. They succeeded in making the crossing the very next night - after giving their daughter a sleeping pill to ensure she remained silent - and lived out the rest of the war in Sweden. Their story mirrors that of the vast majority of Danish Jews. According to Sofie Lene Bak, associate professor in history at Copenhagen University, 7,056 of them escaped to Sweden, with 472 captured and deported to Theresienstadt. This became known as the "Miracle Rescue" but many Danish historians now believe it was less miraculous than it seems. And my grandparents' experience provides evidence for this theory. My grandfather - usually known by his nickname, Folle - always claimed that the reason they managed to escape early in that month of miracles was because of a high-ranking German officer who came to his brother-in-law's tailor shop, N Golmanns, on Istedgade in the seedy red light district of Copenhagen. After the war my grandfather would open his own shop, R Bodin on St Kongensgade, one of the most fashionable streets in Copenhagen, but in 1943 he was still learning his craft. Together with his brother-in-law, Nathan, they would take measurements of new customers and note them down with other relevant information on A5 cards. These cards were stored in a bureau in the shop. I suspect my grandfather's hands shook as he took the measurements and fitted the suit of this particular German officer, who must have been pleased with the finished article as he then offered my grandfather and brother-in-law a warning: "Get out, while you still can. There's a round-up coming." My grandfather never named the high-ranking German officer, but years later Nathan made a startling declaration to my cousin, Margit. The source of the leak that saved my Danish family was none other than Dr Karl Rudolph Werner Best - the very man who, as Germany's plenipotentiary in Denmark (and, moreover, deputy head of the SS) was in charge of ensuring that Denmark's Jews were sent to their death. So why would such a man - a member of Hitler's inner circle, known as the Butcher of Paris for his relentless pursuit of France's Jews a year before - be fraternising with Jewish tailors in the red light district of Copenhagen, much less warning them to escape? It's hard to believe. When Margit heard the story, she immediately went to the bureau which still then held pride of place in the family tailor shop. She searched for the measurement cards from 1940-1943 and rifled through to the letter B. Her heart stopped as she pulled out the card of Dr Karl Rudolph Werner Best. The measurement cards have since been lost, but the story has always fascinated me. A few years ago I started to turn it into a play, and learned then how historians have been rewriting the narrative of the miracle rescue. Dr Werner Best was a doctor of law and had an uncanny ability to bend the law in his favour. After the war he not only convinced the Danish courts to commute his death sentence to a prison sentence, but years later - when he was accused of signing the death warrants of 8,000 Poles - he managed to convince the judge that he was too sick to stand trial. The case collapsed and he lived for a further 17 years as a free man before dying of natural causes. A key priority for Best, as the Third Reich's plenipotentiary in Denmark, was to maintain the flow of agricultural goods from Denmark to Germany. Not for nothing was Denmark known as "Germany's pantry" and as the "whipped cream front" - by some estimates it supplied up to 15% of Germany's needs. To ensure this continued, political stability was essential. But in the summer of 1943 the Danish Resistance had become emboldened, and the Danish government had resigned in protest at a new policy requiring convicted saboteurs to be sentenced to death. Hitler's order to make Denmark "free of Jews" - Judenrein - therefore came at a bad time for Best. "The summer of 1943 had been a blaze of sabotage, strikes and physical confrontations between Danes and Germans," says Sofie Lene Bak. "Best feared for an uprising and general strikes if the Jews were targeted." So it seems Best set about organising the round-up of the Jews - while also simultaneously sabotaging it. When the extent of the failure of the round-up became apparent, Hitler telegrammed Best ordering him to explain himself. He responded that he had done as he had been ordered - he had made Denmark Judenrein. Credit for saving Denmark's Jews has often been handed to Georg F Duckwitz, a German naval attaché and Best's right-hand man, who leaked the date of the round-up to Hans Hedtoft of the Danish Social Democrat Party. Hedtoft in turn passed the information to the acting chief rabbi, Marcus Melchior, who told his congregation the next morning - the day before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year - that there would be no service that day. Instead everybody was to go home, sort out their affairs and find any means of escape. After the war Duckwitz became West Germany's Ambassador to Denmark (1955-58) and was declared "Righteous Amongst Nations" by Israel's Holocaust Memorial Center, Yad Vashem. But it's Werner Best who ultimately bears responsibility for the round-up's spectacular failure. Soldiers charged with rounding up the Jews were ordered to knock on the doors and ring the door bells of Jewish homes, but under no circumstances were they to break them down or smash windows. At least one family simply slept through it all. And when it became apparent that the primary escape route was across the Oresund, all German patrol boats on the water were ordered into harbour. They remained there for three weeks, when the bulk of the escapees were crossing to Sweden. The official explanation was that the boats needed a paint job. All of them - at the same time. "The restraint of the Germans in Denmark is unique to the rest of occupied Europe," says Sofie Lene Bak. "Not only in terms of method on the night of the raid but in terms of the limited resources used to hunt for Jews after the raid." None of this contradicts stories of the bravery of the Danish people, the Resistance or those who were fleeing. In 1943, Denmark's Jews and anyone helping them had a justified fear of execution. After all that's what happened in the rest of Europe, why would Denmark be any different? My grandparents and aunt spent the rest of the war in Sweden, only returning home after it was over, in June 1945. Like many others, they were welcomed home with freshly cut flowers on their tables, placed there by their Danish neighbours. A Bodin Saphir's play, Rosenbaum's Rescue, will be premiered at Park Theatre, Finsbury Park, in January 2019 You may also be interested in: Margaret Nutley remembers her first meeting with a group of unfamiliar boys on the Ascot racecourse. It was autumn 1945, and they were playing football, wearing striped jackets from a concentration camp. Who were they and why were they there? READ: The 'Belsen boys' who moved to Ascot Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

जब अलेक्जेंडर बोदिन सफीर के यहूदी दादा 75 साल पहले कोपनहेगन में एक सूट के लिए एक उच्च पदस्थ नाज़ी को माप रहे थे, तो उन्हें एक महत्वपूर्ण सूचना मिली-यहूदियों को घेर लिया गया और निर्वासित किया जाने वाला था। इसे अक्सर एक "चमत्कार" के रूप में वर्णित किया गया है कि डेनमार्क के अधिकांश यहूदी होलोकॉस्ट से बच गए। अब ऐसा लगता है कि देश के नाज़ी शासकों ने जानबूझकर अपने स्वयं के ऑपरेशन में तोड़फोड़ की।