Kele: 'I'm not a team player'

Summary: This time last year Kele Okereke was keeping a secret.

By Greg CochraneNewsbeat music reporter While his band Bloc Party were clocking up high profile slots at festivals across the world, Okereke had begun recording a solo album. Come the end of August they took to the main stage just before headliners Radiohead at Reading festival. "I'd written all the music by then," says Kele. "Immediately after Reading I flew to New York to finish the record - but we didn't let on. "Throughout 2009 I was amassing songs and working. By that point I'd almost finished the project - but we kept it secret. We didn't tell anyone. Well, I didn't tell anyone." 'Time being' Following a nationwide tour dubbed 'Blococtober' in autumn 2009, the foursome - who released their debut album Silent Alarm in 2004 - confirmed they were taking time out. Swinging on a chocolate leather chair, Kele is in relaxed, energetic and playful mood. "Hello, I'm Kele - I used to be in Bloc Party," he says shaking our hand. Used to be in Bloc Party? "Well, still are… for the time being," he says grinning. "Only joking." Like we said, it's a mischievous Kele we meet today. This cheekiness is the same boundless enthusiasm he showcases on The Boxer - his UK garage, 2-step, house music inspired debut album. "Making this record was a really enjoyable and revealing process to me," he says. "It made me realise that anything is possible if you're dedicated enough. "There were times it did seem overwhelming but I had to keep going. That's the lesson I've learned from this - if you want something in life you have to work for it." Bloc Party's past The departure in sound is guaranteed to surprise some fans of the band, but the hints towards Kele's love for dance music have long been there. Especially in later singles Mercury and Flux. "I've never been one that worries about what other people think," says Okereke, dismissing the idea that he was taking a risk with his new direction. "Even with Bloc Party - we always did things that were about making us as a band feel satisfied more than anyone else outside of the band. "It was about making sure we were doing something that we were creatively into. Or that I was creatively into. I don't really see risk - I just see creative endeavour." Notice the way he uses the past tense. Bloc Party already sounds like it was a long time ago. "I think that with Bloc Party we were definitely moving into a different direction, into a different phase, that has maybe crystallised in this record." No 'weirdness' He started the album totally alone before recruiting a brand new band for the live gigs he's set to play this summer. "It doesn't feel weird," he states. "The people in my band now are great." "We feel like a new band again. I feel like I'm in a new band again. It's a great feeling, I love it." This was after he took up kick-boxing at the start of the year - an experience that has honed his body and sharpened his mind. "I'm not like Jean Claude Van Dam yet - I'm not very good," he laughs. "It's quite an inspiring image that of the boxer. "Having to rely on no-one but themselves to achieve what they want to achieve and having to be focussed despite being knocked down and having to be hit. "I'm not a team player. I don't think I am a team player to be honest. I know what it is I want." Rest assured though, Okereke says this is not the end of Bloc Party. "When we get back together - I don't know when we're going to get back together - I'm sure we'll have a lot to tell each other when we do. "I just hope people enjoy it and they dance to it and it soundtracks their summer," he says smiling. "That's all."

पिछले साल इस बार केले ओकेरेके एक रहस्य रख रहे थे।


Police catch more than 700 speeding motorists in Frome

Summary: More than 700 motorists have been caught speeding in Frome in the last six months, according to Avon and Somerset Police.

Between May and October the community safety camera registered 749 detections in six different locations throughout the town. The camera was introduced after people in Frome told the police that speeding vehicles was an issue. Sgt Sarah Dinnis said the force was determined to tackle speeding. She added: "The safety camera has been introduced alongside existing stop checks by traffic officers and speed checks by local Community Speed Watch volunteers. "I believe this activity, as well as awareness-raising at events and on dedicated days of action, will help reduce speeding in the area."

एवन और समरसेट पुलिस के अनुसार, पिछले छह महीनों में फ्रोम में 700 से अधिक मोटर चालकों को तेज गति से गाड़ी चलाते हुए पकड़ा गया है।


Does a new UK PM mean a new Brexit plan in Brussels?

Summary: In the often-divisive Brexit world of "them and us" it's easy to forget that, beyond Brexit, EU leaders still see the UK as a close partner and ally. Their messages of congratulation to Boris Johnson from across Europe on Tuesday - notably from French President Emmanuel Macron - are a timely reminder of that.

Katya AdlerEurope editor@BBCkatyaadleron Twitter Whatever happens with Brexit, France, Germany, Poland et al still very much hope to work closely with the UK on international issues like Russia sanctions, Iran and human rights protection. On the world stage the EU considers the UK one of the good guys. But EU leaders' welcoming tone - a diplomatic courtesy at the end of the day - should not be misconstrued when it comes to Brexit and a Boris Johnson premiership. EU invitations to the new prime minister to work with them "constructively" do not signal a willingness to accept whatever the new prime minister might demand in terms of changes to the Brexit deal. Optimists and pessimists One influential EU figure put it to me that there were currently two schools of thought in the EU when it comes to Boris Johnson: Number 1: Those who believe that, once in office, he will water down his rhetoric. These EU optimists believe that, as a chief architect of Brexit, Mr Johnson is best placed to sell a compromise deal to parliament. They also hope, after so much time longing to be prime minister, that Boris Johnson ultimately won't want to risk his fledging premiership by going for a no-deal Brexit this autumn. School of Thought Number 2: Those who predict "Varoufakis the sequel". These EU pessimists predict "lots of pointless meetings" with Prime Minister Johnson - as they believe was the case with Greece's controversial finance minister at the height of the Greek debt crisis. They think the result will be a no-deal Brexit. First and foremost though, the EU is waiting to see which figures will have Boris Johnson's ear once he's in Downing Street. "Only then can we begin to understand what Boris Johnson's Brexit strategy will be," one EU diplomat commented to me. "Up till now, all we've heard are slogans." No-deal or bad deal Of course, the EU is already familiar with Mr Johnson's so-called nuclear strategy - letting the EU know that he is very serious about a no-deal Brexit. He knows EU leaders would far prefer a coordinated Brexit. He seems to believe that the credible threat of no deal will provoke a fundamental rethink in Brussels. But the problem with the no-deal threat is that it goes both ways. EU leaders also think no-deal is better than a bad deal. For them. And they believe they are far better prepared. Boris Johnson is right. The EU has more wiggle room around the Brexit deal than it has so far wanted to signal, but also I think he overestimates EU flexibility. Europe's leaders will not want to sign up to compromises over Brexit that ultimately will hurt them. Amendments will only be forthcoming if EU leaders deem them workable and if they are convinced the new prime minister commands a majority in parliament to get the Brexit deal through once and for all. And while limited changes to the backstop guarantee for the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland might be conceivable - if Dublin is willing - the Boris Johnson notion of abandoning the backstop altogether is nigh on unthinkable for Brussels. EU leaders want to safeguard their single market from non-regulation smuggled goods. This is about more than Brexit, more than the Northern Ireland peace process. The integrity of the single market is the cornerstone of the EU's success as a trading bloc. EU leaders will not want to be seen to be abandoning Ireland either. Smaller member states are now a force to be reckoned with in the EU - working together to counter-balance Franco-German influence as the UK prepares to leave the roost.

"वे और हम" की अक्सर विभाजनकारी ब्रेक्सिट दुनिया में यह भूलना आसान है कि ब्रेक्सिट से परे, यूरोपीय संघ के नेता अभी भी ब्रिटेन को एक करीबी भागीदार और सहयोगी के रूप में देखते हैं। मंगलवार को पूरे यूरोप से बोरिस जॉनसन को बधाई के उनके संदेश-विशेष रूप से फ्रांसीसी राष्ट्रपति इमैनुएल मैक्रॉन-इसकी एक सामयिक याद दिलाते हैं।


The Crown: Tobias Menzies cast as new Prince Philip

Summary: The Queen has found her prince for the next series of The Crown.

Former Game of Thrones and Outlander actor Tobias Menzies will star as Prince Philip in the Netflix show, opposite Olivia Colman as the Queen. He takes over from Matt Smith and will portray the Duke of Edinburgh from the 1960s to 1980s. The 44-year-old actor, who played Edmure Tully in Game of Thrones, is expected to be seen in the royal role from next year. It's understood that he has signed up for seasons three and four of The Crown, with the cast changes allowing the characters to be seen as they age. Colman signed up to play Queen Elizabeth II in January, replacing Claire Foy. Menzies has already starred opposite Colman in The Night Manager, playing Geoffrey Dromgoole. His Outlander co-star Caitriona Balfe was among the first to congratulate him for the new role, saying she was "so excited" to hear the news. It was reported that Paul Bettany had withdrawn from talks to play Prince Philip earlier this year, while Hugh Laurie had recently been rumoured to be in the running. Other casting is yet to be announced - but Helena Bonham Carter has been tipped to take over the role of Princess Margaret. Vanessa Kirby, who currently plays the Queen's sister, appeared to confirm the news by posting an Instagram picture of her alongside Bonham Carter, with the caption "honoured". The Crown recently hit the headlines when it was revealed Smith was paid more than Foy, who won a Golden Globe for her performance, for the first two series. Production company Left Bank Pictures apologised to both stars - who said they were not aware of each other's pay. Shakespeare role Menzies was the groom at Game of Thrones' infamous Red Wedding, one of the show's most memorable and talked-about moments. In time travel drama Outlander he plays 20th Century character Frank Randall, as well as his 18th Century ancestor Jonathan Randall. Other roles include an appearance in James Bond film Casino Royale, as M's assistant Villiers. He will be seen in a new BBC production of King Lear later this year, alongside Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson. Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

महारानी को द क्राउन की अगली श्रृंखला के लिए अपना राजकुमार मिल गया है।


California wildfires: Thanksgiving hope from ashes of Paradise

Summary: The Californian town of Paradise has been devastated by the deadliest wildfire in the state's history. At least 81 people have lost their lives and hundreds more have been reported missing. As families across the US come together for Thanksgiving, Paradise's residents are beginning to assess the damage to their lives and the town they called home.

When gale-force winds drove flames from the Camp Fire through dried-out scrub and trees into Paradise on 8 November, its people fled for their lives. In the space of a day, the flames had engulfed much of the town - home to 27,000. Source: Nasa FIRMS. Map built using Carto Some of the victims died trying to get away, while others were discovered in the burned-out ruins of their homes. An estimated 13,000 homes were destroyed, with many of the town's mainly-wooden houses quickly reduced to ashes. The authorities are still working to search and identify bodies as the fire continues to burn in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. While a forecast of heavy rains could help extinguish the flames, it could also hinder the search for the remains of victims and cause misery for those left homeless by the disaster. The Camp Fire scorched 152,000 acres of land along with the thousands of the homes built on it. The blaze is still only 75% contained. The fire isn't expected to be fully under control until the end of the month, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Thanksgiving plans As the rest of America sits down to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday, those left homeless by the raging Camp Fire are contemplating their futures. A number of organisations are on hand to help with the immediate crisis, providing shelter, clothes and food. And for Thanksgiving itself, meals are being donated by several non-profit organisations - the day seen as a chance to bring together those affected to start the healing process. For Kassy Parish, 19, such generosity after the trauma of the fire has been comforting. She plans to spend Thanksgiving at her mother-in-law's, but a stranger has offered her twin sister, Alli, somewhere to sleep and invited her to join his family for the annual celebratory meal. "It's brought out so much good in a lot of people in the area," said Kassy. "A lot of people have been getting together and making sure everyone is taken care of." Kassy was staying with her mom and stepfather at their home on Skyway - one of the three main routes into Paradise - when the fire spread through the town. Their house was burned down. Her six siblings also lost their homes. Before the disaster struck, the town was a popular retirement spot and, according to the latest census, about a quarter of the population was aged 65 or over. Kassy worked as a personal carer providing support for adults in the town when they were unable to live independently. She plans to stay in the town, where everyone knows everyone. "I know it's going to take a couple of years until Paradise is rebuilt but I have lived here all my life," she said. Thousands affected Although, there is no exact figure for the number of people left homeless, six official evacuation centres have been set up, including two in fairgrounds which had closed for the season. Some people have also taken refuge in tents or cars. Hundreds of Red Cross volunteers are helping run the emergency shelters, which slept up to 950 on one night, as well as providing meals for all evacuees. They are also dealing with a fast-spreading norovirus outbreak, which has been reported at four of them. The Red Cross is helping people search for those still missing, through their safe and well website. Sean Smith, debris coordinator for the California Office of Emergency Services told Time magazine the post-fire clean-up would be the biggest since the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. One estimate puts the cost at $1.2 billion (about £900m). Along with the 13,000 homes destroyed, almost 500 businesses have also been hit. Morgan Stanley estimates insured property losses could approach $4 billion (£3.1m), while Moody's Investor Services puts the figure at $6.8bn (£5.3m). "It's one of the worst disasters that I've seen in my career, hands down," Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Brock Long told a news conference. While federal funds are expected to provide about 75% of Paradise's recovery costs, the state of California will also contribute. The money will help rebuild streets, public utilities and buildings and possibly install a new sewer system - Paradise was the largest town in California relying on septic tanks - but families without insurance may have to bear the cost of rebuilding their own homes. Kassy and her family have set up a crowdfunding page to help them get back on their feet. Others are expected to do the same. 'Survived three fires' But for Maurine Johnson, who has lived in Paradise for more than 60 years, it is too soon to contemplate the future. The 79-year-old great-great grandmother has lost her family home and her estate agency business, built up over many years with her late husband. Her two sons have also lost their homes. She has experienced blazes before, but this one was different, she said. "We have been through two or three fires up there and never felt threatened or worried." Maurine, who fell over and broke her nose and damaged her teeth while visiting her sister-in-law at one of the evacuation centres, described how she fled her home with just one change of clothes and her mobile phone. She admitted she still did not appreciate the gravity of her situation, but has been cheered by other people's generosity. "I am having to wear donated clothes," she said. "It's a humbling experience when you are having to take from people." It is this spirit of giving that has led many organisations to provide 15,000 Thanksgiving meals to Camp Fire survivors at several locations, including shelters, on Thursday. Food for the Thanksgiving Together events will be provided by the non-profit World Central Kitchen and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co, while celebrity chefs will work side by side with Paradise restaurant owners to prepare the food. "We have seen the power of food to bring communities together, especially in times of great need," reads a post on the World Central Kitchen website. But the question for many of those affected by the Paradise fire, is whether they will return to the town. Mayor of Paradise Jody Jones believes they will and that the town will be reborn. "We're committed to rebuilding," she said. "It's not an 'if', it's 'How long is it going to take?'" But Maurine, who is considering winding up her estate agency business and retiring, fears many will not return. People are already moving on, she said. "They are leaving the state - others won't be back." By Alison Trowsdale, Lucy Rodgers, Daniel Dunford, Dominic Bailey, Will Dahlgreen and Debie Loizou.

कैलिफोर्निया का शहर पैराडाइज राज्य के इतिहास में सबसे घातक जंगल की आग से तबाह हो गया है। कम से कम 81 लोगों की जान चली गई है और सैकड़ों लोगों के लापता होने की सूचना है। जैसे ही पूरे अमेरिका में परिवार थैंक्सगिविंग के लिए एक साथ आते हैं, पैराडाइज के निवासी अपने जीवन और उस शहर को हुए नुकसान का आकलन करना शुरू कर रहे हैं जिसे वे घर कहते हैं।


Welsh D-Day veteran recalls horrors of Normandy landings

Summary: As World War Two veteran Ted Owens, 94, from Pembroke Dock, returns to France to commemorate 75 years since the Normandy landings, here he recalls how he thought D-Day was a training exercise until he saw bodies on the beach.

It was 75 years ago, yet still the memories, smells and horror of the Normandy landings are fresh in Ted Owens' mind. Age 19, as part of the Royal Marine commandos - a small, amphibious unit of highly-skilled men - he landed on France's Sword beach in the wave of initial advances. Recalling his initial deployment from the landing craft, he said: "I went down the gangway and saw the dead bodies and wounded men on the beach and I realised this wasn't a game, this is the real thing. "We had a big tank in front of us, and it had flails [heavy rotating chains] on the front to disperse any mines as it went up the beach. "Lots of boys went up behind that, and over all the gun fire you could hear someone on a loud speaker saying 'concentrate your fire on the hotel'. "It was a big hotel 100 yards in front of us. "It had been made into a German bunker. At the bottom was the heavy guns, in the middle the machine guns, then the rifles and mortars on the top. "I ran over to a disbanded tank, put my machine gun on top, and when I looked through its sights I could see the men moving about inside. "I fired about five, six shots where I disturbed a wasp's nest. They sent some mortars and one of them hit the top of the tank, less than six feet away from me, and exploded. "It came down on top of me, in my left shoulder, back and chest. "I didn't go unconscious, but I soon realised - I was paralysed." This was Ted's first experience of real combat after joining up just a year earlier at the age of 18. He had trained throughout the UK - first in Devon, then North Wales, then finally in the Royal Marine commandos training camp in Scotland. "It was a hard, hard school," Ted said, "But I passed out in flying colours. "The only thing I failed was speed marching. I was always tail-end Charlie, but cross-country you couldn't stop me." It was just a few months after he completed his training that D-Day approached. Ted said: "First of all, they put us on a train. All the windows were blacked out so you didn't know where you were in case of spies. "We finished up in a camp in Littlehampton in Sussex - Americans on one side, Canadians on the other. They were always having a punch up." Such was the secrecy surrounding D-Day, even as Ted and his comrades boarded their landing craft to cross the channel, they were still unsure as the nature of their mission. "I still thought it was a beach exercise," he said. "It was bad weather and 99% were sea-sick. I wasn't because I was used to boats. "We were about three-quarters of the way over and it came over the speaker for us to eat something. "I went to my kit bag and pulled out a tin of self-heating soup. It had a fuse going down the middle, and you had to strike a match on top and that would heat it. "It was oxtail soup, and I knocked it back. "Ten minutes later I was on the deck like the rest of them. I was really sea-sick and I've never eaten oxtail soup since." Ted was on a large landing craft, carrying roughly 50 men and two tanks. As his 41 Commando unit were drawing close to the beach, their leader Lord Lovat ordered them to remove their tin hats and wear their green berets - the signature of the Royal Marine commandos unit. "It was a crazy order," Ted said, "but we all obeyed it." "All through the war, we never wore a tin hat. You could pick us out anywhere." 156,000allied troops landed in Normandy, across 5 beaches 7,000ships and landing craft involved and 10,000 vehicles 4,400from the combined allied forces died on the day 4,000 - 9,000German casualties Thousandsof French civilians also died The sea was full of battle ships and tanks, making "one heck of a noise". But as Ted went down on the gangway, there was a different sound - a piper, playing his pipes. "I don't know if he was crazy or brave," said Ted, "But you can imagine the men. Shut your pipes, stop drawing attention to us!" After seeing the carnage on the beach, then firing on the hotel and getting struck by returning mortar, Ted found himself paralysed. He lay on the sand as the battle raged around him. He said: "After a while, I heard someone say, 'This poor gentleman's had it'. "They turned me over but my eyes moved. They said, 'Oh God, he's alive!' "So they patched me up as best they could and gave me a morphine injection." He was stretchered onto a landing craft, before being moved to a Canadian hospital ship, then eventually a hospital in Caerphilly, south Wales. He recovered for two-and-a-half months then, after five days leave, was sent back to his unit in Pont-l'Évêque, Normandy. There he faced "one hell of a battle", in which one of his friends "went berserk" after finding 12 men tied up with gunshots to the back of their heads. After this battle, he then fought in Dunkirk as part of a relief unit and during the Battle of the Bulge alongside the Americans. While there, a bullet flew past his nose, shattering in the wall next to him then entering his throat, just skimming his windpipe. Seven decades on, it is still lodged in his throat. He said: "My unit were moved to Germany then, but I was deemed unfit and sent home. "It was a horrible experience, but it was part of life. "I'm just glad we beat the Germans." As part of D-Day commemorations, Ted has returned to Pont-l'Évêque, Normandy to pay his respects to his fallen comrades. While there, he saw a photo of his young self, attached to a lamp-post in the town, commemorating him as one of the town's liberators and someone who fought to free France and defeat the Nazis.

जैसे ही द्वितीय विश्व युद्ध के अनुभवी टेड ओवेन्स, 94, पेम्ब्रोक डॉक से, नॉरमैंडी लैंडिंग के 75 साल पूरे होने के उपलक्ष्य में फ्रांस लौटते हैं, यहाँ वे याद करते हैं कि कैसे उन्होंने सोचा था कि डी-डे एक प्रशिक्षण अभ्यास था जब तक कि उन्होंने समुद्र तट पर शव नहीं देखे थे।


Cartoonists flock to Kendal comic festival

Summary: Comic artists and writers from around the world have appeared at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival.

The event, in Kendal, has live drawing, film, exhibitions and workshops. Contributors who have come from Japan, Canada, Australia, Finland and Europe include The Walking Dead artist Charlie Adlard, Ken Niimura and Bryan Lee O'Malley. Festival organiser Julie Tait said it was also "an amazing showcase for UK comic art which is really thriving".

दुनिया भर के हास्य कलाकार और लेखक झीलों के अंतर्राष्ट्रीय हास्य कला महोत्सव में दिखाई दिए हैं।


Studley body find: Ann Mowbray was stabbed to death

Summary: An elderly woman found dead in a house died from multiple stab injuries, Warwickshire Police said.

Ann Mowbray, 80, was discovered at a property on Allendale Crescent, Studley, Warwickshire, on Monday morning. Her husband, Ronald Mowbray, 82, of Allendale Crescent, has been charged with her murder and appeared at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday. He is next due to appear at Warwick Crown Court on 20 March. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone. Related Internet Links HM Courts & Tribunals Service Warwickshire Police

वारविकशायर पुलिस ने कहा कि एक घर में मृत पाई गई एक बुजुर्ग महिला की चाकू से कई चोटों से मौत हो गई।


'Arson attack' destroys unfinished bungalow in Devoran

Summary: A suspected arson attack has wrecked a home that was under construction in Cornwall.

Witnesses described hearing explosions as fire ripped through the unfinished bungalow in Belmont Terrace, Devoran, shortly before 20:00 GMT. Three fire crews were called to tackle the blaze at the timber-framed property. The fire was out by 21:20. Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service said the fire was thought to have been started deliberately. Related Internet Links Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service

एक संदिग्ध आगजनी हमले ने कॉर्नवाल में निर्माणाधीन एक घर को ध्वस्त कर दिया है।


Hired Lamborghini 'driven anti-socially' before M1 crash

Summary: A hired Lamborghini was seen being driven "anti-socially" before the driver lost control of it and crashed on the M1, police have said.

Derbyshire Police's roads policing unit said a report was received over the driving in Derby city centre. The driver of the supercar then crashed on the southbound carriageway of the motorway, between junctions 28 and 29, at about 22:40 BST on Sunday. "That's the deposit well and truly lost," the unit quipped on Twitter. The force later confirmed no-one was hurt in the crash and no-one was arrested. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.

पुलिस ने कहा है कि एक किराए पर ली गई लेम्बोर्गिनी को "असामाजिक तरीके से" चलाया जा रहा था, इससे पहले कि चालक ने उस पर नियंत्रण खो दिया और एम1 पर दुर्घटनाग्रस्त हो गया।


A338 Bournemouth roadworks set for festive travel break

Summary: Major roadworks on the main route into Bournemouth will be suspended over the Christmas period to help motorists.

The first phase of the £22m scheme on the A338 Bournemouth Spur Road is due to finish on 14 December. Dorset Council Council said the road would reopen to four lanes but with a 40mph speed limit to "help people travelling over the festive period". The second phase, which will see the southbound carriageway rebuilt, will start on 4 January. The work, which being carried out round-the-clock, six days a week is due to finish at the end of May.

मोटर चालकों की मदद के लिए क्रिसमस की अवधि में बोर्नमाउथ में मुख्य मार्ग पर प्रमुख सड़क कार्यों को निलंबित कर दिया जाएगा।


Outlander author Diana Gabaldon on her love of comics

Summary: US author Diana Gabaldon writes the best-selling Outlander books, which have now been adapted for a new TV series in the States. In Scotland to promote the latest book in her series, she has told BBC News Scotland of how she wrote comic book stories about Disney's Scrooge McDuck and was courted by the home of Iron Man, Captain America and Guardians of the Galaxy - Marvel.

By Steven McKenzieBBC Scotland Highlands and Islands reporter When she was three years old, Gabaldon's mother Jacqueline set out to teach her young girl to read. Walt Disney comic books played a big part in those early lessons. "Among the books she read to me when I was three were comic books, and I continued to read those books through to my late 20s," said the writer during a break in her tour promoting her new book, Written In My Own Heart's Blood. A brief guide to Outlander The novels are among several books written by Diana Gabaldon, a former university professor with three science degrees who has previously written scientific papers on computer software. The Outlander series follows young Englishwoman Claire Beauchamp Randall who, during a second honeymoon in the Scottish Highlands, is transported back in time from 1946 to 1743. Gabaldon drew some of her inspiration to place her time travelling tale in Scotland after watching a re-run of a 1960s Doctor Who episode starring Patrick Troughton as the time lord and actor Frazer Hines as his Scottish, kilt-wearing companion. Written In My Own Hearts Blood is the eighth novel in the series. A TV series adapted from the books is showing in the US. In her late 20s Gabaldon went from consuming the books to writing the scripts for the stories, after first writing what she describes as a "very rude" letter to the comics' creator, Del Connell. She said: "I wrote: 'Dear Sir, I've been reading your comic books for the last 25 years and they've been getting worse and worse. I don't know that I could do better myself, but I'd like to try'." An amused Connell invited her to submit a script and while he did not commission the work, he explained how Gabaldon could improve on it. Connell did buy the aspiring writer's second attempt at a script and, for two to three years, she wrote the stories for Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse comics. Another of the characters Gabaldon took on was the Scots accented Uncle Scrooge McDuck. She stopped writing comic book scripts when Disney decided to re-run older stories. Gabaldon said: "Marvel Comics had heard about me and asked if I would write for them. "While I absolutely believed in Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, I didn't believe in Spider-Man, so I didn't write for Marvel Comics." Years later, while in the midst of negotiating film rights to her Outlander books, Gabaldon was approached by an editor, Betsy Mitchell, about writing a graphic novel based on the same characters. What emerged was The Exile. Vietnamese-American artist Hoang Nguyen illustrated Gabaldon's story. The writer said: "He has a very painterly style, and is very talented at creating landscapes and giving characters different expressions. Often comic book characters have a few stock expressions - frowning or screaming as they go into battle." Gabaldon would like to write another graphic novel script, but said the next few years will involve getting four more books written. As she nears the end of her latest book tour she will be coming to Inverness and making a trip to Culloden Moor, the site of the 1746 battle between the armies of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the government. Large parts of the Outlander stories are set in the 1700s. Gabaldon said: "I have been to Culloden many times. It is a deeply haunting place."

अमेरिकी लेखिका डायना गैबल्डन सबसे अधिक बिकने वाली आउटलैंडर पुस्तकें लिखती हैं, जिन्हें अब राज्यों में एक नई टीवी श्रृंखला के लिए रूपांतरित किया गया है। स्कॉटलैंड में अपनी श्रृंखला में नवीनतम पुस्तक को बढ़ावा देने के लिए, उन्होंने बीबीसी न्यूज स्कॉटलैंड को बताया है कि कैसे उन्होंने डिज्नी के स्क्रूज मैकडक के बारे में कॉमिक पुस्तक की कहानियाँ लिखीं और आयरन मैन, कैप्टन अमेरिका और गार्डियंस ऑफ द गैलेक्सी-मार्वल के घर ने उन्हें पसंद किया।


Before Baumgartner: Five daredevils who helped science

Summary: Felix Baumgartner, who has become the first skydiver to go through the sound barrier, says the main goal of his exploit was to collect scientific data. The aim, his team insists, is to assist in the development of high-altitude parachute systems that will save lives when spacecraft are evacuated in the stratosphere.

There is a long history of people undertaking daring feats and helping science into the bargain. Here are five examples. Captain Scott Robert Falcon Scott is famed as the explorer who lost the race to the South Pole and who led his team to their deaths on the return journey. But his expedition also laid the foundations of modern polar science, says historian David Wilson, great-nephew of Scott's naturalist, Edward Wilson. One of the fossils found alongside Scott's frozen body was of a beech-like tree, Glossoptera indica, which proved that Antarctica and Australia had once been part of an ancient super-continent - and "helped us change our geological understanding of the planet" according to Wilson. Scott also collected the first Emperor penguin eggs. These disproved the theory, then current, that an embryo passed through all the stages of its species' evolution as it developed. Scientists had expected the eggs to show the link between dinosaurs and birds - but they didn't. George Hedley Stainforth On 29 September 1931, RAF pilot George Hedley Stainforth became the first man in the world to exceed 400mph (643Km). This broke the record set by his team earlier that year during a competition for the Schneider Trophy, in five races around the waters of the Solent, in the UK, watched by hundreds of thousands of people. The seaplane used, the Supermarine S.6, was designed by RJ Mitchell, who used it as the basis for the the Spitfire - one of the fastest fighters of its time, which became the backbone of RAF Fighter Command in World War II. The Schneider trophy was crucial to the defeat of Germany, says pilot John Russell. "If they hadn't done that exponential development of aeronautics and engine development over the 18 years it took place, then we wouldn't really have the aircraft like the Hurricane and Spitfire to be available by the time of the Battle of Britain." The competition, set up by a French industrialist to encourage technical advances in aviation, ran from 1913 to 1931, with a gap during World War I. Stainforth went on to break the world record for flying upside-down - for 12 minutes. John Paul Stapp In 1954, US Air Force medical researcher John Paul Stapp earned the title "the Fastest Man Alive" when he rode a rocket-powered sled to a then-world record land speed of 632mph (1.017km/h), going from a standstill to a speed faster than a 45-caliber bullet in five seconds. He then screeched to a dead stop in 1.4 seconds, sustaining a force equivalent to 46.2 times gravity. It was an experiment that tested the limits of human endurance, with the aim of making transportation safer. He suffered broken bones and detached retinas, but out of these wild rides - by December 1954, Stapp had volunteered for 29 rocket sled deceleration and windblast experiments - came improved helmets, arm and leg restraints, better aircraft seats, stronger safety harnesses and techniques for positioning the body to help absorb powerful forces. As he had long felt that the safety measures he was developing for military aircraft should also be used for civilian automobiles, Stapp also campaigned for the installation of seat belts and other safety features in American cars. He was in the room on 9 September 1966 when US President Lyndon Johnson signed the Highway Safety Act of 1966, requiring seatbelts in all new cars sold in the US. According to the official website of the US Air Force, Stapp is also credited with coining one of the most famous phrases in American history when he suffered injuries owing to a mistake by one of his assistants Captain Murphy. After he discovered what happened, Stapp observed that "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong." It's been called "Murphy's Law" ever since. Yuri Gagarin Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became an international celebrity on 12 April 1961, when he became the first man in space - effectively, a human guinea pig. His single orbit of Earth during a 108-minute flight - reaching an altitude of 203 miles, and a speed of 17,025mph (27,000km/h) - proved that man could endure the rigours of lift-off, re-entry, and weightlessness. It launched the era of manned spaceflight, and intensified the superpower space race that had begun with the launch of Sputnik, the first satellite, in 1957. "No-one knew what effect zero-g would have on the astronauts when they were up there. They were so concerned that he might be disorientated and disabled once he was in weightlessness," says Reginald Turnill, the BBC's aerospace correspondent from 1958-1975. "It was decided right from the beginning that he would not be allowed to control the spacecraft, it would all be done from the ground." In fact, Gagarin almost lost consciousness for a different reason - a service module failed to separate from Gagarin's capsule before he returned to earth, leading it to spin wildly and the temperature within to rise dangerously high. Dan Martin When intensive care consultant Dan Martin climbed Everest, he reported the lowest level of oxygen in the human body ever recorded - his own. While not a daredevil as such, he is part of a team of doctors studying how the human body behaves in low-oxygen environments, in particular at high altitude, and drawing lessons for treatment of critically ill patients. "When people go into intensive care, they commonly suffer with low levels of oxygen in their blood. Some can tolerate it, some can't. Our understanding of it is very poor," he says. The team has already established that giving patients lots of oxygen in intensive care does not necessarily lead to better outcomes. It has also noted that Sherpas have high levels of nitric oxide in their blood, and is experimenting with raising levels of nitric oxide in the blood of patients. Reporting by Bethan Jinkinson and Vanessa Barford.

फेलिक्स बॉमगार्टनर, जो ध्वनि अवरोध से गुजरने वाले पहले स्काईडाइवर बन गए हैं, कहते हैं कि उनके शोषण का मुख्य लक्ष्य वैज्ञानिक डेटा एकत्र करना था। उनकी टीम का कहना है कि इसका उद्देश्य उच्च-ऊंचाई वाले पैराशूट प्रणालियों के विकास में सहायता करना है जो समताप मंडल में अंतरिक्ष यान को निकालने पर जीवन बचाएंगे।


Devon and Cornwall Crimestoppers arrests rise

Summary: The number of people arrested in Devon and Cornwall specifically with the help of Crimestoppers rose by more than 200% last year, according to the charity.

Information given to Devon and Cornwall Police led to 323 arrests between April 2011 and March 2012 - up 226 from the previous year's figure of 97. Nationally, there was a 5% rise in information passed to police forces. But a spokesman said the 233% rise in arrests in Devon and Cornwall was one of the biggest increases in the UK. Crimestoppers, which allows the public to provide anonymous information, said the figures showed a growing awareness of the charity as an organisation that aided the fight against crime. Stephen Pearce, chairman of Devon and Cornwall Crimestoppers, said he was delighted with the results. "This is a positive sign of the work or volunteers are conducting in the area," he said.

चैरिटी के अनुसार, विशेष रूप से क्राइमस्टॉपर्स की मदद से डेवोन और कॉर्नवाल में गिरफ्तार किए गए लोगों की संख्या पिछले साल 200% से अधिक बढ़ गई।


Gwynedd council to consult on £9m cuts proposals

Summary: A package of cuts likely to total £9m is to be considered by Gwynedd council.

The council's cabinet agreed to consult on proposals that could see an end to free school breakfasts and the cost of school meals rising to £3. Sports centres and libraries could face closure in a bid to make the savings over the next two years. Following the consultation more detailed proposals will be put before the whole council.

ग्वेनेड परिषद द्वारा कुल 9 मिलियन पाउंड की कटौती के पैकेज पर विचार किया जाना है।


Jersey has 'highest uptake' of HPV vaccine

Summary: Jersey has the highest uptake of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine across the British Isles, according to the island's medical officer of health.

Dr Susan Turnbull said the vaccine for 12 and 13 year old girls helps prevent cervical cancer. She said: "A perfectionist would want it to be 100% and we are working in that direction but 92% is excellent." In England, 84.1% of girls have had the vaccine, introduced five years ago, compared to Jersey's 92%, she said. She said Jersey should be proud of its figures. Dr Turnbull said girls who have had the vaccine will still need to have smear tests because the vaccine only protects against 70% of strains of the virus. But she said there were vaccines on the way to cover more strains and eventually cervical screening could become a thing of the past.

द्वीप के स्वास्थ्य चिकित्सा अधिकारी के अनुसार, जर्सी में पूरे ब्रिटिश द्वीपों में ह्यूमन पैपिलोमावायरस (एचपीवी) वैक्सीन का सबसे अधिक सेवन है।


Disrupted train services return to normal across east

Summary: Train services across the east have returned to normal after nearly 20 hours of disruption caused by overhead line and signalling problems in Essex.

Services were cancelled and times changed as far apart as Norwich and London from Wednesday night to late Thursday morning. Engineers worked through the night on repairs to power lines and signalling. Eleven services were cancelled and six others altered, including trains between London, Ipswich and Norwich. Ellen Rossitter, from National Express East Anglia, apologied for the inconvenience to travellers. Many passengers suffered disruption to their journeys on Wednesday night because of severe weather causing problems, National Express East Anglia said. These problems continued into morning services.

एसेक्स में ओवरहेड लाइन और सिग्नलिंग समस्याओं के कारण लगभग 20 घंटे के व्यवधान के बाद पूर्व में ट्रेन सेवाएं सामान्य हो गई हैं।


£1m lottery winner in Rhondda Cynon Taf claims prize

Summary: A £1m lottery prize winner in Rhondda Cynon Taf has come forward to claim the prize.

Camelot UK Lotteries Limited, which runs the National Lottery, said the prize was won in the EuroMillions Millionaire Raffle draw on 26 July. The company said unless the winner wants publicity no further information will be released. A spokesperson said it was always important that players check their tickets so as not to miss out on a win.

रोंडा साइनन टाफ में एक मिलियन पाउंड का लॉटरी पुरस्कार विजेता पुरस्कार का दावा करने के लिए आगे आया है।


In pictures: Workers unite for May Day

Summary: May Day, an ancient spring festival in many nations, is also international workers' day, or "labour day".

On 1 May every year, workers of the world unite and rally in support of trade unionisation and better working conditions. Originally chosen by socialist, labour and communist organisations, the commemorative date has spread across the globe. Photographs are subject to copyright.

मई दिवस, कई देशों में एक प्राचीन वसंत उत्सव, अंतर्राष्ट्रीय श्रमिक दिवस या "श्रम दिवस" भी है।


Doctor on trial over Spain 'stolen babies' scandal

Summary: When an 85-year-old gynaecologist goes on trial in Madrid on 26 June accused of abducting a baby, thousands of victims of a sinister, sprawling network of illegal adoptions will be looking for answers. They will also be hoping that the case triggers wider investigations into the scandal.

By James BadcockMadrid Dr Eduardo Vela will become the first person to stand trial for what victims' groups claim was a secret practice that saw hundreds of thousands of babies stolen and sold under the dictatorship of Gen Francisco Franco and after his death in 1975. In the years immediately after Spain's 1936-1939 civil war, children were removed from families identified by the victorious fascist regime as Republicans and given to families considered more deserving. Little was known about the private trafficking of babies that continued in the 1960s until two men went public with their story in 2011. Antonio Barroso and Juan Luis Moreno revealed they had been bought by their respective fathers from a priest in Zaragoza. Mr Barroso, who founded the association Anadir (National Association for Irregular Adoption Victims) calculates that 15% of adoptions in Spain between 1965 and 1990 were the result of babies being taken without consent from their biological parents. That would amount to some 300,000 people. What Eduardo Vela is accused of Inés Madrigal, the baby Dr Vela is accused of abducting in 1969, believes her birth mother may have been deceived or bullied into giving her away. "They told my mother that the biological mother was a married woman who couldn't keep me. She had had an affair while her husband was away," she says. Dr Vela has admitted signing the birth certificate stating that Inés Madrigal's adoptive parents, Inés Pérez and Pablo Madrigal, were her biological mother and father. He told the investigating judge that, in his capacity as director at the now-defunct San Ramón clinic in Madrid, he signed papers without reading them. DNA testing has shown that Ms Madrigal is not related to her late parents. Before her death in 2016, Inés Pérez told the judge that Dr Vela had given her the baby as "a gift" after a Jesuit priest had introduced her to the gynaecologist as a favour, because she and her husband could not have children. Dr Vela and his defence lawyer declined to comment. A slowly unfolding Spanish scandal Facing jail: Spanish 'stolen baby' who searched for her mother Spain to open 'stolen' baby archives Spain's stolen babies and the families who lived a lie The parents who lost their babies Dr Vela was investigated briefly by police in 1981 when a magazine called Interviú published interviews with women who claimed they had been cheated of their babies after giving birth at San Ramón. They said they had been told that their children had died and had been immediately sent for burial. The gynaecologist left San Ramón in 1982, the police inquiry led nowhere, and the chapter seemed to have closed. In recent years victims began to reach out to each other on the internet, and from 2010 Spanish media began to run follow-up stories. As well as the trial in Madrid, Dr Vela is also being investigated in connection with the alleged disappearance of a baby born at his clinic in 1971. Fuencisla Gómez and her husband, Fernando Álvarez, now bitterly regret accepting that their first-born daughter had died of heart problems without seeing her body. Coffins exhumed in some stolen baby cases have proven to hold unrelated children or even adult bones. 'That isn't my son' Such allegations are by no means limited to Dr Vela's two-decade stint in charge of the San Ramón clinic. Agustina Fuentes and Eusebio Caballero say they never saw their baby boy again after being told he had died three days after a complicated birth at Madrid's La Milagrosa hospital in 1981. "I was watching him in the incubator through the window each day," recalls Mr Caballero. "He didn't have any tubes attached to him. Then on the third day they said he had died an hour and a half ago." He describes having to fight to see the body. When he was finally shown a baby, Caballero said: "That isn't my son. I've been looking at him for three days." The couple have since discovered that no record of their son's birth exists in the Madrid civil registry. They reported their suspicion that their son had been stolen, but prosecutors shelved the investigation. Some 3,000 similar cases have been reported in the past decade, but only a handful have led to fully-fledged, investigations as courts cite a lack of evidence due to the time elapsed. Inés Madrigal wants the trial to mark a turning point for others, for the authorities to reopen investigations. But for herself she is not optimistic. "I know that Eduardo Vela is not going to tell me what I want to know, which is where I come from."

जब एक 85 वर्षीय स्त्री रोग विशेषज्ञ पर 26 जून को मैड्रिड में एक बच्चे के अपहरण के आरोप में मुकदमा चलाया जाएगा, तो अवैध गोद लेने के एक भयावह, फैले हुए नेटवर्क के हजारों पीड़ित जवाब ढूंढ रहे होंगे। वे यह भी उम्मीद कर रहे होंगे कि यह मामला घोटाले की व्यापक जांच को गति देगा।


Woman dies, two injured in Conwy county crash

Summary: A woman has died and two men have been seriously injured after a crash near a village in Conwy county.

Police are investigating after a silver Renault Clio and a black Mercedes SLK collided on the A543 near Pentrefoelas just before 15:45 GMT on Saturday. The female passenger from the Mercedes - who was in her forties - died. The two drivers - one in his 20s and the other in his 40s - were taken to hospital in Stoke-on-Trent with life-changing injuries. North Wales Police is appealing for witnesses.

कॉनवी काउंटी के एक गाँव के पास एक दुर्घटना में एक महिला की मौत हो गई और दो पुरुष गंभीर रूप से घायल हो गए।


BBC Cardiff Singer of the World paused for 'medical emergency'

Summary: A BBC Cardiff Singer of the World concert was stopped for one and a half hours after a member of the audience was taken ill.

St David's Hall was cleared after what was described as a medical emergency on Thursday before resuming at 20:30 BST. The song prize final is one of a week of performances. Held every two years, the competition for singers from around the world was launched to celebrate the hall's opening in 1983. A BBC spokesman said: "Due to a member of the audience being taken unwell, this evening's concert and broadcasts were delayed." Mezzo soprano Catriona Morison was crowned the winner of the main title in the last competition two years ago.

दर्शकों में से एक सदस्य के बीमार होने के बाद बीबीसी कार्डिफ सिंगर ऑफ द वर्ल्ड कॉन्सर्ट को डेढ़ घंटे के लिए रोक दिया गया था।


Top of the Lake: Is New Zealand's greatest actor New Zealand itself?

Summary: If a country could be eligible for a best actor award, New Zealand could be in the running for every gong going, with its contrasting moods showcased most recently in The Hobbit and Top of the Lake. Is the scenery more than just a dramatic backdrop?

By Megan LaneBBC News Magazine "Sinister... the heart of a demon" - the Guardian "Majestic menace" - Slate "Bleak, forbidding or just plain murderous" - Daily Mail "Unspoiled and unruly" - Variety These are not reviews of an actor's performance in the BBC Two mystery Top of the Lake - well, not any of the human actors - but the part played by the landscape. "The geography is really another brooding character," says the Australian in its review, praising its "angularities, shadows and dark moods". It's not the first time New Zealand's scenery has muscled its way into reviews and water-cooler conversations. The same happened with Peter Jackson's Tolkien trilogies - first Lord of the Rings and now The Hobbit - in which the country's dramatic terrain itself "plays the mythical world of Middle-earth" according to the New Zealand Tourism website. Does that make the landscape a co-star? Yes, says Alfio Leotta, a lecturer in film studies at Victoria University of Wellington. He sees it playing an "active role" in films such as The Piano or Lord of the Rings. "One of the main challenges faced by Frodo in his journey is the interaction with a natural environment that can be both friendly and hostile (depending on the circumstances)," says Leotta. "The same can be said about The Piano, as the main obstacle to retrieve the piano is the thick bush. The opposition between civilised and primitive worlds is central to the narrative." In The Piano, the beach represents the borderline between civilisation and wilderness, he says, an opposition dramatised by the famous image of the piano stranded on the sand. The same scene, he points out, was used in the international advertising campaign "100% Pure New Zealand" as a symbol of the country's dual appeal to visitors - familiar and civilised, on the one hand, but also "an exotic, untamed paradise". The piano on the beach becomes "an icon of New Zealand itself", he says. Some directors have also used the landscape to transform characters who interact with it. In Top of the Lake, troubled police detective Robin Griffin frequently retreats to a remote hut or to the lakeside itself - locations that unlock hidden emotions, but also extra drive and determination. "Think about Frodo's or Bilbo's transformation from ordinary hobbits into heroes," says Leotta. "Or about Ada's transformation [in The Piano]. Thanks to her encounter with the indigenous land and people, she is able to get rid of Victorian conventions and repression and free her emotions and sexuality." Leotta puts the "centrality of landscape" down to the fact that, for decades, New Zealand's film industry was short of studio infrastructure. "New Zealand film-makers were forced to film on location. Location was everything, both an asset and a challenge. The way in which landscape is represented in Top of the Lake, The Piano and the Tolkien films has been influenced by this tradition of landscape representation." Writer and director Stella Duffy - a Londoner raised in New Zealand - compares the sense of place in Top of the Lake to the strong presence of London in the novels of Dickens. But she also says the Maori belief in the land as a living thing, shared by many New Zealanders, plays a role. For Karl Burrows, of Maori performing arts group Manaia, the idea of the land as a character is far from unusual - it's very old. Maori legend has it that humans are descended from Ranginui, the sky father, and Papatuanuku, the earth mother, while the volcanoes in the middle of the North Island, are cast as rival warriors fighting for the love of two maiden mountains. "The mountains are our ancestors too," says Burrows. "They fought upon the land for love - and one, my mountain Taranaki, migrated west to maintain his tapu or sacredness. My people call our mountain koro Taranaki, which acknowledges him as our grandfather or elder, someone we respect." The diversity of the landscape - mountains, rainforest, pastureland, volcanoes and sulphurous mud pools - means New Zealand can play the part of Canada in X Men Origins: Wolverine, of Japan in Tom Cruise's The Last Samurai and of fantasy worlds. New Zealand off screen "New Zealand can shift from one idea of the land to the other - pastoral to gothic, cultivated to wild," says Prof Laurence Simmons, head of media, film and television at the University of Auckland. "It's been used by filmmakers to fit a variety of global locations and historical periods, from small-town America in Peter Jackson's The Frighteners to 19th Century Japan, let alone Middle-earth and the landscape of Avatar." Many of these films have helped to attract visitors to the country, just as the New Zealand Film Commission hoped would happen when it first started funding home-grown features in the 1970s. In a survey conducted in the first quarter of 2013, one in 10 international arrivals said The Hobbit sparked their interest in New Zealand as a destination. "We estimate that 47,000 visitors a year visit a film location," says Danielle Genty-Nott of Tourism New Zealand. Such is the popularity of film location tourism, says Genty-Nott, that a regional tourist office asked Tourism New Zealand to stop using a still from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, in order to protect the beach depicted. Too many visitors wanted to run through its natural stone arch, just as the Pevensie children did on their return to Narnia. So is New Zealand the Meryl Streep or Daniel Day-Lewis of countries? "Yes, with a bit of Anthony Hopkins put in," says photographer Ian Brodie, author of The Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook. "The people at Weta Workshop [Peter Jackson's company] think the academy awards for Lord of the Rings should have gone to New Zealand." The landscape of the country in which Anna Paquin, Sam Neill and Russell Crowe grew up is definitely a co-star, he says. "The Sam Neill film Perfect Strangers involved a murder and an unruly West Coast beach played an integral part in setting the mood. I'd liken it to the big house in The Shining. But in New Zealand, rather than use a building, you use the landscape." And it has a personality, says Simmons. "There are no predators but there is an obsession with the germ of evil in this paradisical land. We are uncomfortable with the image of perfection and paradise, and so we are always looking for what might be wrong. The dark, gothic version of a menacing landscape is definitely one of its 'moods' and Top of the Lake has some of that." Top of the Lake was broadcast on Saturday 17 August on BBC Two at 21:10 BST, or (in the UK) catch up with iPlayer You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook

अगर कोई देश सर्वश्रेष्ठ अभिनेता के पुरस्कार के लिए योग्य हो सकता है, तो न्यूजीलैंड हर क्षेत्र में जाने के लिए दौड़ में हो सकता है, क्योंकि हाल ही में द हॉबिट और टॉप ऑफ द लेक में इसके विपरीत भाव प्रदर्शित किए गए हैं। क्या यह दृश्य केवल एक नाटकीय पृष्ठभूमि से अधिक है?


Could Iraq conflict boost Kurdish dreams of independence?

Summary: As Iraq descends deeper into chaos and the fires burn closer to Baghdad, the Kurds in the north have quietly taken advantage of the tumult to expand and tighten their control in the oil-rich Kirkuk province, long the object of their dreams and aspirations.

By Jim MuirBBC News, Irbil The move was both defensive and ambitious, carrying strong elements of both opportunity and risk. "Part of the motivation was to avert a humanitarian disaster," said a senior source in Irbil. "Had we not filled the vacuum left by the Iraqi army's departure, everybody would have flooded into the Kurdistan region. We had half a million people banging on our doors. "It's a lot simpler to send 100 peshmergas (Kurdish military forces) to hold the fort and keep security, so that people could stay put. Once our units went in, the displaced started going back." But there's clearly more to it than that. The Kurdish media have been hailing the step as a historic reunification of Kurdish lands. Jewel in their crown Kirkuk city, which has a mixed population of Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen, has long been a thorny issue in Iraqi politics. Its special status as a disputed city was recognised in the post-Saddam Hussein Iraqi constitution, which called for the situation in the city to be "normalised" by: But that has never happened, and Kirkuk, as well as other disputed areas along the Arab-Kurdish ethnic fault line, have been flashpoints for friction between Kurdish forces and Iraqi government troops. Now, the latter have melted away, leaving Kirkuk to fall into the hands of the Kurds like a ripe fruit. With the rest of Iraq apparently disintegrating along sectarian lines, and the central government in Baghdad in disarray, it will clearly be a long time before an Iraqi authority can challenge the Kurds' absorption of what they have long seen as the rightful jewel in their crown. The Kurdistan region has already angered Baghdad by going its own way and selling its oil and gas directly to and through its northern neighbour Turkey, with which the regional government (KRG) has developed a close partnership despite historic Turkish suspicions of Kurdish nationalism. Now it seems likely that the acquisition of Kirkuk, both the city and the province with its rich oilfields, will boost the trend towards outright independence for the Kurdistan region. Dominant forces "Absolutely, it brings independence a step closer," said a well-placed source. "We have lost hope in the sanity of the people governing Iraq. We don't want to be part of the failure of something for which we're not responsible. Nobody gave more than us in the effort to keep Iraq together, but now we're giving up, there's no hope." But the move is not without risks. It brings Kurdish forces into direct proximity with the militants who have taken over in Mosul and other adjacent areas. In recent years, Kirkuk has already seen many suicide and other bomb attacks attributed to Sunni radicals, which are very rare inside the KRG autonomous area itself. If instability spreads, it could affect the current boom in investment and economic activity in Kurdistan, which has flourished while the rest of Iraq has largely stagnated and been mired in turmoil. If the Sunni areas are starting to go their own way, much will depend on the composition of the dominant forces taking part in that process. Other strands So far, the public face that has resonated around the world has been that of the ultra-radical al-Qaeda offshoot known as ISIS, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. But as with the anti-US insurgency from 2004 on, there are clearly other strands to the revolt, which explains the resonance it is having, and the speed of its movement through the mainly Sunni areas on which it is concentrating. The Kurds have no sympathy for the ISIS radicals, but they are in touch with other elements, including tribal leaders and commanders of the Military Councils of Iraqi Revolutionaries (MCIR), which includes many experienced former Iraqi army officers. The Kurds have been given assurances from the latter that they will not encroach on the borders of the KRG autonomous region, according to an MCIR spokesman. The MCIR claims that overall, its fighters are the most significant element in the revolt, with tribal militants in second place, and ISIS only third despite the media attention they command. When Sunni rebels took over the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, in January, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki asked the Kurds to send peshmerga forces to help drive them out, sources say. But the request was turned down. The Kurdish leadership's message to the MCIR conversely was that Irbil would not be against the Sunnis taking the road of establishing their own autonomous area, following the lead of Kurdistan itself. That would clearly not apply if ISIS emerged as the dominant force in self-administering Sunni areas. Its philosophy and practices are so extreme that it has even been disavowed by its parent leadership, the international al-Qaeda movement headed by Osama Bin Laden's successor Ayman al-Zawahiri. A future scenario where the Kurdish forces helped "moderate" elements such as the MCIR to oust ISIS is not hard to envisage. Already there are signs of a potential conflict between strands of the rebel movement, although they are cooperating for the time being. "There is no friction or clashes between us at the moment, but we plan to avoid them until we are settled and operations are finished, then we will kick them out of Mosul," said an MCIR source. "We are warning their leaders that if they perpetrate any violations, they will become our first enemy, so they are behaving so far." Stir hostility Politically, the clerical body which is the spiritual point of reference for mainstream militant Sunni groups, the Association of Muslim Clerics (AMC), has put out a statement which clearly takes issue with the radical declaration put out by the ISIS spokesman, Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the day before. He called for revenge and score-settling in Baghdad, and for the militants to march on the holy Shia city of Karbala to the south of the capital. That would clearly be a recipe for sectarian carnage and civil war between Sunnis and Shias, something the AMC said is absolutely not on the agenda. "Calls for the revolutionaries to head for Karbala, Najaf and elsewhere are rejected, unacceptable and irresponsible on the part of those issuing them," the AMC statement said. "It would stir hostility to the revolution and make it fail, diverting its goal from helping the oppressed to stirring up sectarian conflict between the sons of our one people, quite apart from the fact that everybody knows that most of the Iraqi people in the south reject Maliki and his gang, and suffer his oppression like the rest of us." The AMC insisted that forgiveness and tolerance should be the keynote in administering the "liberated" areas, and that nothing should be done to prejudice people's livelihoods or impose dress codes on them, even if they were not in line with strict Islamic precepts. In another clear reference to ISIS, it said that no group should claim to represent the entire revolt and take strategic decisions without consultation. It also called for the immediate release of the 49 Turkish nationals seized by ISIS from the consulate in Mosul, saying this risked alienating a powerful neighbour and provoking intervention. But even the AMC embraced the goal of reaching Baghdad, "because the ruling regime is there, the source of oppression and crimes against the people, so there is no other way of lifting the yoke as long as the regime fails to look after others." Room for compromise So the seeds of an incipient struggle within the rebel movement are clearly there, though the AMC stressed the need to avoid the kind of chaos and in-fighting afflicting opposition groups in the anti-government uprising in Syria. Clearly, the current Sunni revolt has much more to it than the intrusion of foreign jihadist "terrorists", as Prime Minister Maliki has claimed. The Americans and others are aware that the turmoil reflects Mr Maliki's failure to draw major Sunni political forces into the political process and give them a stake, one of several factors inhibiting them from producing a forceful and determined response to his appeals for help. Despite their visible differences, the various elements in the Sunni revolt are agreed on the need to push towards Baghdad, a campaign that is likely to see movement from the western side - Anbar province - as well as from the north. But as with the Kurds in the north, the course of events will depend a great deal on which strand predominates within the rebel movement. If ISIS prevails, open-ended sectarian strife can be expected. But if the more moderate groups assert themselves, there may be room for compromise and accommodation.

जैसे-जैसे इराक अराजकता में गहराई से उतरता है और आग बगदाद के करीब जलती है, उत्तर में कुर्दों ने तेल समृद्ध किर्कुक प्रांत में अपने नियंत्रण को बढ़ाने और कड़ा करने के लिए चुपचाप उथल-पुथल का लाभ उठाया है, जो लंबे समय से उनके सपनों और आकांक्षाओं का उद्देश्य है।


In Pictures: Sir Christopher Lee's career in film

Summary: Sir Christopher Lee has died at the age of 93.

The veteran actor, whose films include Dracula, The Wicker Man and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, died on Sunday morning at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, according to reports. The decision to release the news days later was based on his wife's desire to inform family members first. The couple had been married for more than 50 years. Here are some of his career highlights in pictures. "Initially, I was told I was too tall to be an actor," Sir Christopher told Total Film in 2013. "I thought, 'Right, I'll show you.'" After an uncredited debut in Laurence Olivier's film version of Hamlet, he spent 10 years as a bit-part player, before signing a contract with horror studio Hammer. His first film for Hammer was The Curse of Frankenstein, in which he played the monster opposite Peter Cushing as Frankenstein. The duo went on to make more than 20 films together. The actor made his first appearance as a vampire in 1958's Horror of Dracula. He went on to play Dracula nine times - although he disliked being linked with the role in later life. Sir Christopher had no lines in 1965's Dracula: Prince of Darkness. A popular myth suggests the written dialogue was so bad that the star chose to hiss instead of saying his lines. However, internal memos showed his agreement to record a TV trailer for the production - which also had extremely poor lines - suggesting that the decision to play the part silent had been taken by the director. Sir Christopher's first two Dracula films were banned in Australia, but the third - Dracula Has Risen From The Grave - passed after receiving several cuts. It ran for a three-week season at Sydney's Capitol theatre in January 1970. But the star was not restricted to vampirical roles, playing the title character in 1966's Rasputin, the Mad Monk. Hammer was very nervous of the film, aware that MGM had been sued in 1933 by Princess Irina Romanoff Yusupov, who claimed a previous film about Rasputin had invaded her privacy by erroneously portraying her as his mistress. As such, the Hammer film came with the disclaimer: "This is an entertainment, not a documentary. No attempt has been made at historical accuracy... all the characters and incidents may be regarded as fictitious." The actor also starred as the criminal fiend Fu Manchu in a series of 1960s films, starting with The Face of Fu Manchu. A distant cousin and golfing partner of James Bond creator Ian Fleming, Sir Christopher was in the frame to play Doctor No in the first Bond movie. Joseph Wiseman eventually won the part, but Sir Christopher later appeared opposite Roger Moore's 007 in 1974's The Man With The Golden Gun. Cult thriller The Wicker Man, about pagan worshipers on a remote Scottish island, was the actor's personal favourite from his filmography - although he disliked the cut released to cinemas in 1973. "It was shown in a butchered form," he said. "Even the DVD is butchered. What happened to that film, I still don't know. The negative disappeared from that day to this." A restored version, reinstating most of the original footage, was released in 2013. In a career essaying villains, possibly his most comedic turn came in Gremlins 2 - where he played the unfortunately named Doctor Catheter. Director Joe Dante said: "The idea of the Christopher Lee character being a geneticist came in because [special effects artist] Rick Baker didn't want to do the movie unless he could design new gremlins. So how are we going to get new gremlins? Well, we'll have a character who can create them, this mad-scientist geneticist." In the 21st Century, the actor appeared as Saruman in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy and in the director's two Hobbit films, as well as playing Count Dooku in the Star Wars prequels. "This last decade has been the most extraordinary decade of my life," he said in a 2012 interview. Knighted in 2009, Sir Christopher was given the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) fellowship in 2011. He was presented with the award by Tim Burton, with whom he made four films: Sleepy Hollow, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sweeney Todd and Dark Shadows (he also narrated the poem that became The Nightmare Before Christmas). Accepting the award, he said: "There was a newspaper this morning that said I was going to cry - something I don't often do, in films at any rate. "But it's a very emotional moment for me. I'm thankful that I don't follow in the steps of the great Stanley Kubrick, whose award was posthumous." Still active into his 90s, he recorded several heavy metal albums and, in 2012, attended the premiere of James Bond film Skyfall, along with his wife, Brigit. He said the secret to having a 50-year marriage was simple. "Marry someone wonderful."

सर क्रिस्टोफर ली का 93 वर्ष की आयु में निधन हो गया है।


Vietnam-US relations: What the Vietnamese say

Summary: Four decades since the Vietnam War ended, America is the largest importer of Vietnamese commodities, while the Vietnamese are the eighth largest foreign student community in the US. This weekend's US visit by Vietnam's parliamentary chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung reflects the deepening political ties between these two former enemies over the last decade. Ordinary Vietnamese summarise how 10 years of reciprocal summits are transforming their perceptions of their old enemy.

By Nga PhamIn Hanoi Hoang Thi Lieu, 21, tour company employee, from Hai Duong Province "Since Vietnam normalised relations with the US, many more Americans are visiting and working in Vietnam. I work in tourism, and I like American tourists a lot. Most of them are really polite and interested in our country. Some even come here to express their regrets over the Vietnam War, so they try to be extra nice towards us. We have a lot to learn from Americans." Nguyen Vien, 66, writer, from Ho Chi Minh City "For me, American culture is primarily about jeans. They are comfortable, cool and versatile. I wear jeans most of the time. Americans have also taught us how to be practical. So I no longer dwell on things, I look to the future. And now, when I meet my friends for coffee in the morning, we split the bill instead of one person paying for it all. Very American, I think... " Nguyen Thuy Duong, 45, businesswoman, in Ho Chi Minh City "Since it first opened in Vietnam, KFC became my childrens' favourite. My son, now 13, would pick it over Vietnamese cuisine any day. He likes it, not just because the food is tasty but also because he can play in the restaurant play area and collect stickers. I try to limit it to one visit per week and as a treat for my children." Le Hoang Giang, 67, former police officer, in Hanoi "I think Vietnam's new policy of opening up and befriending other countries especially the US is very wise. We used to think capitalist societies were morally empty but America is actually a great civilization with a great culture. Having such a powerful ally is a good thing." Vu Thi Kieu Oanh, 22, shop assistant, from Quang Ninh Province "I love Hollywood movies. I watch so many. I have many idols among US movie stars, especially Angelina Jolie. She is so beautiful. I actually want to marry an American man!"

वियतनाम युद्ध समाप्त होने के चार दशक बाद, अमेरिका वियतनामी वस्तुओं का सबसे बड़ा आयातक है, जबकि वियतनामी अमेरिका में आठवां सबसे बड़ा विदेशी छात्र समुदाय है। वियतनाम के संसदीय अध्यक्ष गुयेन सिंह हंग की इस सप्ताहांत की अमेरिकी यात्रा पिछले एक दशक में इन दो पूर्व दुश्मनों के बीच गहरे होते राजनीतिक संबंधों को दर्शाती है। आम वियतनामी सारांश देते हैं कि कैसे 10 वर्षों के पारस्परिक शिखर सम्मेलन अपने पुराने दुश्मन के बारे में उनकी धारणाओं को बदल रहे हैं।


Same-sex marriage: Conservative and liberal views

Summary: In the space of two days this week voters in North Carolina approved a constitutional amendment effectively banning same-sex marriage and US President Barack Obama made clear his view that gay and lesbian couples should have the chance to wed.

Here conservative writer Rod Dreher argues that liberals in the media have won the battle on same-sex marriage by portraying traditional views as "irrational hatred", while Sarah Wildman, a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins university, applauds the president for announcing "a new direction for the country" . Rod Dreher, senior editor of the American Conservative: I am supposed to be heartened by North Carolina's vote this week against same-sex marriage. After all, I am a social and religious conservative who lives in a small town in Louisiana, the deepest part of the Deep South. We Southerners have held the line for tradition and moral truth about marriage every time the issue has been put on the ballot here. Given how decisive the North Carolina vote was, and given that gay marriage proponents have lost in every state, even culturally liberal California, it is tempting to think we can stand athwart history yelling, "Stop!" If only. I think ours is a lost cause. And we Southerners know something about lost causes. When US President Barack Obama announced on ABC News yesterday that he favours same-sex marriage, a journalist friend inside a Manhattan newsroom wrote that every one of his colleagues stood at their desks, staring at the screens "like it was the moon landing". Of course. It is impossible to overstate the depth and breadth of media support for same-sex marriage. In my newsroom experience, it is taken as given that any opposition to gay marriage can only come from rank bigotry. You would no more take a defender of traditional marriage seriously than you would take a segregationist seriously - or so the thinking goes. Trying to explain philosophically why homosexuality is not the same thing as race draws blank stares. This is simply not something to be reasoned about, especially not with my generation of journalists: too young to have seen the black civil rights movement, and who are not about to miss out on their own version. Though I firmly believe there is only a superficial connection between gay marriage and inter-racial marriage, the legacy of the civil rights movement in the South is precisely why I think marriage traditionalists are going to lose in the long run. I recently moved back to my hometown, a Louisiana country village of 2,000 people, after living away for nearly 30 years. Though my generation was the first to attend racially integrated schools from the beginning of our education, the relative comity that exists here now between the races - half the town is black, the other half white - is, as you would expect, partly a result of familiarity. Integrating state schools would not have happened if elites (I use the term descriptively, not pejoratively) in the 50s and 60s had not held the federal judiciary and imposed their moral views over popular local will. That is only part of the story, though, and not the most important part. Yes, I went to school with black children. But despite this it was not as hard as you might think to maintain one's prejudices. Nothing in the local culture actively challenged racist beliefs. Churches avoided controversy by ignoring the issue. So, we Southern children of the 70s and beyond were catechised on the wrongness of racism primarily by television and media culture. It was impossible to watch TV back then and not notice that the conventional racial opinions held by local whites were treated as backward and immoral. They were, in fact, precisely that, but my point here has to do with media ecology. Mass media framed the debate over race in America in a way that stigmatised white racism, and made old-fashioned views obsolete and even embarrassing. The rigid old way of thinking, happily, did not survive a single generation. In my town we have not achieved a Valhalla of tolerance, but social progress on the race question has been breathtaking. Whatever views people may hold privately, only the most truculent racists - the sort one rarely sees in public life these days - would favour laws and policies that were commonplace here as late as the mid-60s. Racism is seen as trashy - as vulgar - even here in a former segregationist stronghold. This tells us something about the future of gay marriage, given the dominance of the "civil rights" narrative in the public square. As is commonly known, polling data show a stark generational divide among Americans on same-sex marriage. The younger the voter, the greater the support. The demographic tidal wave on this issue is undeniable. Gay marriage opponents like to tell themselves that people get more conservative as they age - true, in general, but unlikely in this case. As long as the traditionalist position on same-sex marriage, almost universally held only 25 years ago, is treated as irrational hatred and nothing but by the media, business, and social elites, there will be powerful social and psychological pressure to shun it. American business culture is increasingly pro-gay. If the US Supreme Court constitutionalises same-sex marriage the cultural, legal and financial pressure (through the tax code) against conservative churches to abandon orthodox Christian teaching will be enormous. Leaving aside the role of elites in forming mass opinion, it is not sufficiently appreciated why so many younger Americans support same-sex marriage. It fits easily with what they already believe about the nature of marriage, of sex, of liberty, and of human nature. The high level of religiosity shown in US polls is deceiving. More recent, comprehensive research by political scientists Robert Putnam and David Campbell, and sociologist Christian Smith, indicates that young Americans are not only abandoning formal religious observance in large numbers (while still claiming to be "spiritual"), but they see religion primarily in therapeutic terms. That is, they believe that God wants us to be nice, happy and self-fulfilled - and that's about it. As the late sociologist Philip Rieff observed in his great 60s work of cultural analysis, The Triumph of the Therapeutic, Western culture had by then abandoned the Christian moral matrix, especially on sexual matters. Given the haplessness of the churches as a counter-cultural force to the hedonism and individualism celebrated by popular culture, it should surprise no-one that arguments, Christian and otherwise, for traditional marriage are hard for young people to conceptualise. Traditionalists keep winning battles, but we have lost the war at the level of ideas. Our moral and religious claims strike many as illiberal (therefore incorrect) and sociological contentions about the integral importance of traditional family structure to society's health are cold-hearted abstractions. The collapse of Christianity's cultural authority has been profound. Prejudice - either in the bad sense of mindless bigotry, or the good, Burkean sense - is the only thing keeping gay marriage at bay. This will not last, especially as the social, legal, and commercial price for holding fast to tradition increases, as it certainly will, now that same-sex marriage commands the high ground in the US social and cultural hierarchy. Gay marriage completes the institutionalisation of the sexual revolution, against which the forces of social conservatism and religious tradition have been impotent. As pleasing as ballot box victories are, I see no reason for the long defeat to reverse, at least not in my lifetime. Like it or not, this is what it means to live after the passing of the Christian era. Email: rod.dreher@gmail.com

इस सप्ताह दो दिनों के अंतराल में उत्तरी कैरोलिना में मतदाताओं ने समलैंगिक विवाह पर प्रभावी रूप से प्रतिबंध लगाने वाले एक संवैधानिक संशोधन को मंजूरी दे दी और अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति बराक ओबामा ने अपना विचार स्पष्ट कर दिया कि समलैंगिक और समलैंगिक जोड़ों को शादी करने का मौका मिलना चाहिए।


Turkey election: What's the economic context?

Summary: Turkish voters on Sunday will elect a new government.

By Andrew WalkerBBC World Service Economics correspondent Politically, Turkey has been dominated by the Justice and Development Party of the President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for more than a decade. The party, often known by its Turkish language acronym, the AKP, is likely to put in a strong performance again this time, but it faces significant challenges to its dominance. One factor, among several, is the flagging performance of the country's economy. So how has Turkey's economic performance been under the AKP? Since the party came to power, following an election in late 2002, the economy has expanded by 68%, equivalent to an average annual growth rate of 4.5%, despite two bad years (2008-09) at the height of the global financial crisis. That's well short of China's growth performance, but as Turkey is a more advanced emerging economy you wouldn't expect it to grow as fast. Perhaps a more appropriate comparison would be that Turkey's growth was stronger than South Africa or Brazil managed in the same period. It's about the same as Chile, often seen as something of a poster child for managing an emerging economy. It's worth recalling the circumstances in which the AKP came to power. It was in the aftermath of Turkey's own financial crisis, which led to an IMF bailout. Inflation has also been a very different story when set against Turkey's previous history. For most of the AKP's time it has been in high single figures. Any western central bank today presiding over that sort of performance would be considered a failure. But in the case of Turkey the contrast with the immediate past is stark. There were years in the 1990s when it was over 100% - that is to say, prices doubled in a year. Less than two years ago, the President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, said: "Turkey's economic achievements are an inspiration for many other developing countries." And Turkey's more recent performance? Last year, however, the Turkish economy slowed. It grew 2.9%. The IMF's forecast for this year is only slightly better. Unemployment has increased. It dipped below 8% three years ago. Now it's more than 10%. Is Turkey vulnerable to adverse international developments? Probably yes. Turkey has a substantial deficit in its international trade. The most widely used measure is the current account, which covers trade in goods and services and some financial transfers. In Turkey that was in the red to the extent of 5.7% of annual national income, or GDP, last year, down from close to 8% the year before. It's an issue because it has to be financed by funds from abroad. As long as foreign investors are prepared to lend to Turkish borrowers and buy their financial assets that kind of current account deficit is bearable. But if foreign investors take fright, or simply feel they can make better returns elsewhere, the situation can turn ugly. That was one of the features of the wave of emerging market financial crises that erupted in Thailand 1997 and which later hit Turkey, leading to the IMF bailout two years later. In an assessment of the Turkish economy in late 2014 the IMF said "capital flow reversal remains the main risk". The report continued: "A sharp decrease in inflows would… lead to a recession." What might lead to such a reversal? We have already had a taster in an episode known as the "taper tantrum". That was in 2013 when the US Fed started talking about winding down its programme of buying financial assets to stimulate the American economy. Investors started thinking that US assets would yield better returns than they had previously. We may well experience a similar reassessment later this year if, as expected, the Fed starts to raise interest rates from their current lows. It might lead to more investment heading out of emerging markets back to the US. During the taper tantrum, Turkey was identified as one of a group known as the "fragile five". Some say it is still vulnerable to the same kind of shock. The London consultancy Capital Economics says: "Turkish banks' external debt has risen in recent years, making both the banking sector and the real economy vulnerable to an external shock." There is though some comfort, the firm says, because "the vast majority of loans are still denominated in local currencies". That is helpful because if debts are in foreign currency they become more expensive to repay if the home currency falls sharply - which is exactly what tends to happen if investors pull their money out. Is the political situation an economic issue? Some argue that Turkey's politics make it vulnerable. Viktor Szabo of Aberdeen Asset Management describes recent developments in Turkey as a "drift towards an autocratic state". He writes: "The president's mere attempt to seek more power for himself is alarming investors who were already spooked by his government's persistent failings." President Erdogan has certainly expressed some unorthodox views on economic policy. He has suggested that higher interest rates cause higher inflation. He has also described the defence of higher rates as treason. That has not gone down well with international investors. The inflation theory is the reverse of what they all believe and they became very wary about what they see as political pressure on the central bank to cut rates. Viktor Szabo says President Erdogan has launched "several brazen and bizarre attacks on the central bank". He describes the president's agenda as an attempt to "effectively 'Putinise' Turkey by giving himself and his party more power. [It] is as dangerous economically as it is democratically."

तुर्की के मतदाता रविवार को एक नई सरकार का चुनाव करेंगे।


Gloucester incinerator work 'to begin next summer'

Summary: Work on a £500m waste incinerator near Gloucester is set to begin next summer after the county council voted to allow a developer to begin construction.

The scheme at Javelin Park has been delayed for three years due to a series of legal challenges from campaigners. Gloucestershire County Council's Conservative cabinet voted unanimously to approve a revised contract, allowing Urbaser Balfour Beatty to build the plant. It is expected to open in 2019. Plans for the project were approved by the secretary of state in January, following a public inquiry, despite the plans having been previously refused by Gloucestershire County Council. A further legal challenge at the High Court by Stroud District Council in July failed to get the decision overturned.

ग्लूसेस्टर के पास 500 मिलियन पाउंड के अपशिष्ट भस्मक पर काम अगली गर्मियों में शुरू होने वाला है, जब काउंटी परिषद ने एक डेवलपर को निर्माण शुरू करने की अनुमति देने के लिए मतदान किया।


Devolution battle beckons between London and Manchester

Summary: It's a decade and a half since London had its political voice restored and there is more appetite for change. The dilemma facing any government is how to meet demands for more autonomy while recognising and retaining the capital's role at the heart of the national economy.

By Tim DonovanPolitical Editor, BBC London The mayor's key powers are over transport, policing and housing. But the concern remains that London's ability to respond to the demands and needs of a rapidly growing population is hampered by Whitehall's reluctance to let go of the wallet. The capital's leaders complain that Treasury spending rounds - looking three or four years ahead - don't give the predictability of money and direction which allow them to make serious plans over the longer term. The challenges are there for all to see - an acute housing shortage, a lack of school places, a transport system barely managing to cope. But the necessary levers are not available to pull. More freedom would enable infrastructure demands to be addressed together - brown field sites brought to life by homes and schools and health centres, next to new offices and shops and near stations, trains and bus routes. The idea is that scale and coherence would bring savings and efficiency. There appears to be momentum behind some of the recommendations of the London Finance Commission set up by Boris Johnson and chaired by Tony Travers from the London School of Economics. Property taxes like stamp duty, council tax (revalued), capital gains tax and all business rate income would be raised and spent in London. As proposals go, it looks fairly modest. The effect would be to allow London government to determine and keep a 12% share of taxation raised in the capital, compared with 4% now. London's financial leash would remain much tighter than comparable global cities like New York and Tokyo. Yet it is hard to see how any government will rush in the short-term to relinquish, say, the redistributive tool of stamp duty. A third of the £7bn received in 2012-13 was levied in London. Three questions get asked a lot about these proposals for more financial freedom: On the first, people may point to the experience of recent years in London's boroughs to suggest significant hikes are unlikely. The simple answer, though, is that through the beauty of an elected mayoralty, they will go up or down according to the persuasive powers and credibility of the incumbent. On the second, the mayor and the commission are keen to stress that it will be revenue-neutral to the Treasury, but only at the point of transfer. 'Rumblings up north' Over time, London's financial relationship with the rest of the country would change, and less of the tax raised in London would be exported to subsidise public spending elsewhere. Would that be a problem? Well, much depends on how the rest of the country itself is coping. And here we need to note that something is definitely rumbling up north. There have recently been ministerial speeches on northern powerhouses, a think-tank report on 'Devo-Manc' and a manifesto for more devolution and localism from the Core Cities Group of the country's major conurbations. This week, the news came that Greater Manchester is to follow in London's footsteps with the creation of an elected mayor. It all has the unmistakeable feel of a choreography building up to even more devolutionary measures over spending being announced in the chancellor's Autumn Statement. Some say we're about to see Manchester become the UK's first genuinely financially-devolved city, starting with the freedom to control and allocate the entire £23bn of annual public spending within the metropolitan region. The first mission would be to close the local fiscal gap by raising the extra £5bn a year in tax receipts needed to balance out that £23bn of public spending. Then, to go into surplus but keep a large chunk of any extra money generated to be invested back into the city. Finally, could there be tax-raising powers offered too? If this has got a clear economic rationale, it also has a fascinating political dimension. And not just because it looks like a bold Tory plan to try to achieve some sorely-needed relevance in the north. Is it far-fetched to see this as the turf for a titanic struggle which may come our way quite soon between George Osborne, the 'northern' chancellor with a Cheshire power base, and his equally metro-centric, ex-Bullingdon rival, the mayor of London? 'More Power for London? - a BBC London Special' presented by Jeremy Vine, will be broadcast on Wednesday 5 November 2014 at 22:35 GMT on BBC One #londonwhatnext

डेढ़ दशक हो गए हैं जब लंदन ने अपनी राजनीतिक आवाज को बहाल किया है और बदलाव के लिए अधिक भूख है। किसी भी सरकार के सामने दुविधा यह है कि राष्ट्रीय अर्थव्यवस्था के केंद्र में राजधानी की भूमिका को पहचानते हुए और बनाए रखते हुए अधिक स्वायत्तता की मांगों को कैसे पूरा किया जाए।