Shenzhou-10: China launches next manned space mission

Summary: China has launched its latest Shenzhou manned space mission.

By Jonathan AmosScience correspondent, BBC News Three astronauts blasted away from the Jiuquan base in Inner Mongolia on a Long March 2F rocket at 17:38 Beijing time (09:38 GMT). The commander, Nie Haisheng, and his crew, Zhang Xiaoguang and Wang Yaping, plan to spend just under two weeks at the orbiting Tiangong space lab. Wang is China's second female astronaut and she will beam the country's first lesson from space to students on Earth. The crew's capsule was ejected from the upper-stage of the rocket about nine minutes after lift-off. Mission controllers clapped enthusiastically once the ship's solar panels had been deployed. Earlier in the day, Chinese TV carried pictures of President Xi Jinping wishing the crew luck. "You have made Chinese people feel proud of ourselves,'' Xi told Nie and his colleagues. "You have trained and prepared yourselves carefully and thoroughly, so I am confident in your completing the mission successfully. "I wish you success and look forward to your triumphant return.'' It should take just over 40 hours to raise the craft's orbit to the operating altitude of Tiangong some 335km (210 miles) above the planet's surface. This mission, the fifth manned venture by China and scheduled to be the longest, is designated Shenzhou-10. It is the latest step in China's plan to eventually put a permanently manned station above the Earth. Tiangong-1 is the demonstrator. It was launched in 2011 to provide a target to test rendezvous and docking technologies. The Shenzhou-9 crew - which included China's first female astronaut, Liu Yang - hooked up with the module for nearly 10 days in June 2012. Nie's team aims to stay a few days longer, and like the crew of Shenzhou-9 will practise both manual and automatic dockings during the mission. Beijing hopes to launch its fully-fledged station at the turn of the decade. It is expected to have a mass of about 60 tonnes and comprise a number of interlocking modules. Like the International Space Station (ISS), it will have long-duration residents and be supplied by robotic freighters. China's human spaceflight programme is conducted largely in isolation to the ISS partners. But this could change in the next few years. Europe in particular has opened a dialogue that could eventually result in flight opportunities for its astronauts on the proposed Chinese space station. "We are looking at possibilities to use this space station," the European Space Agency's human spaceflight director Thomas Reiter told the BBC last month. "The way ahead is that we will likely see first an exchange of experiments. And there are now also a few colleagues at the European Astronaut Centre who have started Chinese language training." Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos

चीन ने अपना नवीनतम शेनझोउ मानवयुक्त अंतरिक्ष मिशन शुरू किया है।


Coronavirus: Where are the gaps in NI’s vaccine programme?

Summary: Northern Ireland has begun to emerge from lockdown .

By Eunan McConvilleBBC News This week also saw the limited opening of the vaccination programme to those aged between 35 and 39. These are two significant indicators of progress towards a return to a more normal life. So what do the stats and figures tell us? In short, the number of vaccinated people continues to increase; fewer people with the virus are in hospital, with a small number in ICU; Northern Ireland has the highest infection rate in the UK - but it hasn't really increased. This week we're going to take a bit of a deep dive into vaccination data, and try to find out who's been turning up to get the jab… and more importantly, who hasn't. Vaccinations Let's start with the basics - measured by the sheer number of people who have had a first dose, Northern Ireland's vaccination programme has been a success. Almost 900,000 people in Northern Ireland have received at least one dose of vaccine. That means we're closing in on 50 per cent of the overall population. It's true that Northern Ireland is a bit behind England, Scotland and Wales in the rollout of first doses. It's also true that the gap has been widening slowly for a few weeks. But Northern Ireland's vaccination performance is still among the best in the world. The following are the percentages of the overall populations to have received a first dose of vaccine in the UK and Ireland: But let's say you want to find out a bit more about how the vaccination has been going - how many people in your area have had a jab? Or are there particular groups which have been slow to go and get vaccinated? This type of information is uptake data. In order for it to make much sense, you need to know how many people are in a particular group - and how many within that group have had a jab. This is important because these data allow policy makers to see the gaps in the vaccination programme more clearly. Northern Ireland's vaccination dashboard gives some added information about the roll out, but crucially it does not include uptake data. It does break down the number of vaccines by eligibility criteria. But this doesn't equate to clear uptake figures. Consider a 56 year-old heart surgeon. She probably received her vaccine as a healthcare worker, and this is where she'll be placed in the figures currently published by the Department of Health. She will not appear in the dashboard's 50-59 category. This - coupled with the fact that estimated cohort sizes are not published - means that it is impossible to obtain exact uptake data from the department's figures as published at the minute. Over a period of months, BBC News NI has been requesting accurate uptake data from the Department of Health. Similar figures have been publicly available in the other devolved regions of the UK for months - you can look at vaccination numbers by age group; by geographical area; by eligibility. For example, in Scotland 62.8% of the people resident in the NHS Fife area have had a first dose. Or by local council area - Na h-Eileanan Siar (the Outer Hebrides) has the highest vaccine uptake in Scotland, with City of Edinburgh having the lowest. In Wales, 93.7% of healthcare workers have had a first dose; 90.9% of people aged 50 and over in the council area of Merthyr Tydfil have had at least one Covid-19 vaccine dose. In short, data published in Wales and Scotland are much more detailed than in Northern Ireland - and give the Scottish and Welsh public a much clearer picture of how their vaccine rollout is going. There won't be enough vaccination without better information. In the midst of a crisis, no-one could be blamed for prioritising getting vaccines into people over bean counting. And official data on vaccination hasn't been great in any nation of the UK. The statistics regulator has repeatedly written to all four governments. But statisticians would argue you won't get over the finishing line unless you know exactly who is getting vaccinated and, more importantly, who isn't. There has been a big lag in uptake among some ethnic minority communities in England, in particular black African Britons, that was revealed most convincingly by a university study of GP records. In their data, it dwarfs the gaps between rich and poor or between those with mental health problems and those without. Any group of people who live or worship or play together who are not getting vaccinated will have very little protection if anyone in that group gets infected. You need the data to spot the patterns to target the help to reach the people who will really need protection when we open up. Without the data you're blindfolded. More than two months ago, the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) called for more transparent statistics on the vaccination programmes in the UK, singling out Northern Ireland's lack of "orderly release of more granular data". The OSR told BBC News NI: "We would like to see improvements to the vaccine data for Northern Ireland as soon as possible. "We continue to engage with the department and monitor the situation, and will make further public interventions if we consider it necessary." The Department of Health has, on occasion, published some uptake data via Twitter or by press release to the media. These numbers do not appear on the vaccination dashboard. The following is the most up-to-date uptake data for first doses by age group in Northern Ireland (up until April 21): The Department of Health does now have uptake data which allow officials to see where added effort might be needed to encourage people to get a vaccine jab - this informed the recent decision to have pop-up clinics. But the question remains - why is Northern Ireland so far behind in the publication of this information? The Department of Health says there have been a couple of factors which have hampered its efforts -poor data collection in the early days of the vaccination programme; the fact that much of the information was coming from lots of different places and on different systems; and a relatively smaller digital development team. Dan West is the chief digital information officer at the Department of Health. "We have not a technology problem here. We have a data problem and that data problem is partly a function of the pace at which we're seeking to deliver vaccinations to the community, particularly vulnerable members of the community in Northern Ireland. "And that pace is hampering our ability to solve some of those data availability and data quality problems," he said. Mr West added that data collection was a secondary consideration to delivering vaccine doses. He told BBC News NI that a new vaccination dashboard is due to be launched shortly. The publication of clear, detailed vaccination statistics will allow the public in Northern Ireland to get a much better idea of any gaps in our vaccine rollout. Infection rates Northern Ireland has the highest infection rate in the UK. Here are the infection rates according to figures from the UK government, for the seven days up to April 18, per 100,000 population: However, rather than Northern Ireland's rate increasing, it was a case of our rate staying fairly much static while the other rates in the UK dropped. The Republic's rate for the same period was 52.0 cases per 100,000 population. It's also worth noting that the rates for all the UK nations - including Northern Ireland's - are much lower than they were in February or March. The general trend continues to be downward one. Northern Ireland's slightly higher rate has been driven largely by the incidence of cases in Derry & Strabane Borough Council. The most recent data from the Department of Health indicate that Northern Ireland's infection rate is being to slowly fall again. Hospitalisations Northern Ireland's trend of a falling number of inpatients with Covid continues. Currently, there are 64 patients in hospital with the virus - seven of them in intensive care wards. For comparison, at the peak of the winter surge the respective figures showed more than 1,000 inpatients with the virus and more than 70 of them in ICU. At the moment, we can expect about four patients to be admitted each day into hospital with the virus. This low rate should - in theory - see those falling inpatient numbers continue. Deaths The death rate, as published by the Department of Health, is exactly as it was last week. The rolling average is one death per day. By population, this is the highest rate in the UK, but remains much lower than the Republic's death rate. The following are death rates for the seven days up until April 20, per 100,000 population: Without doubt, vaccinations have been having an impact on the death rate in the UK.

उत्तरी आयरलैंड ने तालाबंदी से बाहर आना शुरू कर दिया है।


Trapped in lifts - 10 of your stories

Summary: A recent story about why people feel awkward in lifts - or elevators as they are known in the US - triggered a big response from our readers. Many wrote in to share stories of being trapped.

Read the original story here: Why do we behave so oddly in lifts? Brian Acott, Arkholme, UK I was once trapped in a lift in an old office block. I rang the alarm for ages but no one responded so, in a "Bruce Willis" moment, I forced the doors open - only to find I was just a couple of inches off the ground floor. I walked out with what little dignity I had left. Don, Gatineau, Canada I grew up on Long Island and when I was 11 my mother, my two younger brothers and my aunt were in the city. The adults decided to take us to the top of the Empire State Building as us kids had not been there. The elevator got stuck between the 55th and 56th floor. We shared the elevator with two Danish women who had a two-year-old with them. I always remember they let him relieve himself in the corner. We were stuck for about 90 minutes and for some reason no one panicked. Finally we made our way to the top and enjoyed the view. The next day my aunt noticed she had a few burst veins in her legs, I suppose from the [raised blood] pressure. Lynn Hnat, Kenilworth, UK I got stuck in a lift with my 18-month-old baby. The thing is, I am deaf. I did push the buttons and was able to tell that someone was there but had no idea what they were saying. I just repeated, "I am stuck with a baby and I am deaf, I cannot hear... please send someone out." I just repeated this again and again, over two hours. I entertained my boy with Bob the Builder, saying that he (Bob) will come and get us. Finally, after two hours, we got the doors to open. There should be some text or screen that can let deaf people know what is happening. Philippos Frangos, Limassol, Cyprus I am the owner of a lift company in Cyprus. A few years ago we had finished installing a lift in a prestigious villa in a village up on the mountains. It was Friday afternoon and the villa owner was coming to stay in her home the next day. I was there with one technician and helped him adjust the lift. We went up and down countless times and everything seemed to be in order. We picked up all our tools and were about to leave the villa, being the last people there, when we got trapped in the lift on the very last trip. You see, it happens to all of us. It was not possible to call for help so we had to get out on our own. We practically dismantled half the cabin from inside before we could get out! Claire Sayan, Sheffield, UK I had taken my three children to see Santa at Meadowhall on Christmas Eve when we got stuck in a lift between floors. I pressed the alarm button which rang through to the lift makers. I was played a recorded message that said "We are now closed until the New Year, have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year"! I had 8% mobile phone charge left so I rang my sister, who wasted 6% of it laughing at our predicament before I finally made her listen long enough to ask her to ring the shopping centre itself and inform them of our whereabouts. My children thought we were going to have to spend Christmas in the lift. We were stuck for half an hour before they winched us down. Colin, Edinburgh, Scotland I got stuck in the lift at my flat, with a female friend, on New Year's morning after a fine Edinburgh Hogmanay. Found it the ideal place to practise salsa. The confined space creates the ideal level of intimacy required to get the steps right. Of course, you have to hum the same tune. Kenny Wheeler, Swindon, UK I was once stuck in the lift at my place of work, a local college. It must have been for around 35-40 minutes. After pressing the alarm button several times, I came to the conclusion that no-one was going to come in a hurry. So I updated my Facebook status to let my friends know to ring the college and tell them I was stuck in the lift. Ten people "liked" my status before thankfully one person who I worked with contacted the appropriate people and I was freed. Anon, Plymouth, UK I was once stuck in a small lift for about two hours with four other people. The fact that there were other people there made the ordeal less frightening, even though it was crowded, but my biggest fear was how I was going to urinate because I was the only female. The men were happy to pee down the shaft. It annoys me that those alarm buttons never seem to work, because no-one responded. Eventually one of the guys phoned the police, who said they would help, but never came. After about two hours, one of the guys finally realised how to open the second set of doors. We found ourselves between two floors, and jumped down to the lower one. Had we not rescued ourselves, I don't know how long we would've been there, since no-one seemed to care that we were stuck in there. Luckily I was able to control my bladder for the entire duration. Lydia Kari, Nairobi, Kenya The lift got stuck between the 13th and 14th floor. It was just me and a guy who was high on something. I panicked and must have pressed the alarm enough times but at the same time tried not to show this guy I was more scared of him than the lift getting stuck. When the lift operators came I could not wait for them to work on it, despite them requesting me to be patient. They did what they could and pulled us out manually because of my persistence. Jude Awdry, Princes Risborough, UK When travelling on a ferry between Plymouth and Santander, my young daughter was feeling very seasick. We went in the lift to go back to our cabin when it stopped and was stuck. We were eventually released but not before she had been violently sick several times!

हाल ही में एक कहानी आई है कि लोग लिफ्टों या लिफ्टों में अजीब क्यों महसूस करते हैं, जैसा कि वे अमेरिका में जाने जाते हैं, हमारे पाठकों से एक बड़ी प्रतिक्रिया शुरू हुई। कई लोगों ने फंसे होने की कहानियों को साझा करने के लिए लिखा।


Did internalised homophobia spark Orlando nightclub attack?

Summary: Reports that Orlando gunman Omar Mateen had been a regular at the gay nightclub he attacked and used gay dating apps have led to speculation that he was motivated by internalised homophobia. But what is it, and could it have anything to do with the worst shooting in recent US history?

By Jasmine Taylor-ColemanBBC News, Washington Investigators are still trying to establish what led a 29-year-old security guard from Florida to murder 49 people and injure dozens more as they partied in popular gay nightclub Pulse. They are examining indications Mateen was inspired by radical Islamism, following revelations that he pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and the FBI had investigated him twice previously for terror links. Mateen's father also suggested his son had harboured strong anti-gay views, fuelling many people's belief that the attack was motivated by violent homophobia. But as more information emerges about the killer's history, a more complicated picture is developing. Witnesses said Mateen had visited the Pulse club as a guest several times over the past three years and interacted with men on gay dating apps. His ex-wife, Sitora Yusufiy, told CNN it was possible he had hidden feelings about being gay. It has led experts to question whether the gunman was spurred on - at least in part - by a powerful self-loathing about his own sexuality. Could he have been driven to hate and hurt others because he hated himself? "Although it is not common, it's not unheard of for people to be violent to other people who are LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) as part of overcompensating for something that they are struggling with themselves," says Genevieve Weber, who has specialised in counselling people affected by internalised homophobia and now teaches counselling at Hofstra University in New York. "It's could be part of the notion, 'If I differentiate myself enough, I can't be gay'." Definitions of internalised homophobia vary, but it is essentially when LGBT individuals encounter negative beliefs in society towards the LGBT community, absorb those beliefs and accept them to be true. Researchers say it happens involuntarily, and while Mateen would be a very extreme example, it is an issue that affects many LGBT individuals at some time in their lives. "It's a really simple concept unfortunately," says Ilan Meyer, a senior scholar for public policy and sexual orientation law at the University of California, Los Angeles. "All members of society are taught about conventions. We learn about stigma and prejudices about certain groups from a very young age. "So when a person begins to recognise that he or she is gay or lesbian, there is already that negativity." Messages about homosexuality can come from multiple places, including family, school and the media, experts say. Intolerance can be covertly communicated, perhaps through slurs or pejorative statements such as "that's so gay", or overtly, such as bullying or anti-gay teachings in religions that do not accept LGBT rights. "There are many religions that are not homophobic," says Meyer. "But in some cases, when you are religious and you hear negative messages repeatedly from people who are the most valued in your community it is going to be a very painful lesson. "Certainly in the evangelical Christian community in the US, for example, if you went to church every week you could learn horrible things." Sohail Ahmed, a young Muslim man from London, says his struggles with his own sexuality led him to become increasingly extreme in his religious views - to the extent that he even considered staging a terrorist attack. "I would research all these Islamic verdicts on what you should do if you have homosexual feelings," he told the BBC's World Service. "One thing would keep coming up again and again was that you need to be more religious, worship more. "It sounds really paradoxical… but I actually became more radical in an attempt to cure myself of homosexuality." Ahmed says he hid his true sexuality from everyone he knew, and even began to believe he was "evil". "I started thinking maybe I was gay as a punishment from God for something I had done. It was an absolutely horrifying feeling - waking up every day with this voice at the back of your head saying you're disgusting, you're evil. "It was this endless cycle. It just increased my hatred for myself and other gay people. It was extremely destructive." Ahmed later denounced his extremist views and now helps others turn away from radicalism. He has come out as gay and follows a progressive branch of Islam that accepts LGBT people. But experts warn that internalised homophobia can also have a harmful impact on a person's mental health. It can cause depression and anxiety, leave people feeling unable to form intimate relationships, and lead them to make unsafe choices. "Internalised homophobia is not in itself a mental health problem, but it causes mental health problems," says Meyer. "Certainly if you're dealing with that very hard period to accept yourself, it is very stressful. It can lead to drug or alcohol abuse. You might use drugs during sex to numb yourself to what you're doing." People affected need to understand it is a condition that can be worked through, says Genevieve Weber. "With the right help from a counsellor or someone that really understands, people can be brought to the point where they love themselves and realise there is a whole community who will support them." Both Weber and Meyer say educating society as a whole is crucial to enabling people to avoid developing internalised homophobia and its potentially damaging effects. "School environments need to not only be accepting, but also teach kids about gay and lesbian society," says Meyer. He also encourages anyone who might be struggling with their sexuality to look for positive stories and images online. Weber says it is important that the right help is at hand. "It's about having people in roles where they are showing acceptance, and ensuring that you have clinicians trained in understanding the issues who are accessible to people." It is not yet known for certain whether Mateen experienced internalised homophobia - and whether he ever tried to get support. For his part, Meyer says there is not enough research to prove a direct link between internalised homophobia and violent behaviour. "But I know that Mateen would not be the first person to display homophobia internally and externally." Examples could include instances where conservative, anti-LGBT politicians have been "outed" by the media as gay or lesbian, he says. But when it comes to the Orlando gunman, this is one of many questions that remain unanswered.

रिपोर्ट है कि ऑरलैंडो बंदूकधारी उमर मतीन समलैंगिक नाइट क्लब में एक नियमित व्यक्ति था जिस पर उसने हमला किया था और समलैंगिक डेटिंग ऐप का उपयोग किया था, इस अटकलों को जन्म दिया है कि वह आंतरिक होमोफोबिया से प्रेरित था। लेकिन यह क्या है, और क्या इसका हाल के अमेरिकी इतिहास में सबसे खराब गोलीबारी से कोई लेना-देना हो सकता है?


Two men appear in court over Busby Stoop crash deaths

Summary: Two men charged following the deaths of two teenage boys in a North Yorkshire road crash have pleaded not guilty.

George Turner and Mason Pearson, both 17, died in a crash on the A61 at Busby Stoop in March. Luke Ridley, 23, faces two counts of causing death by dangerous driving and five counts of causing serious injury. William Corser, 18, was also charged with causing serious injury by dangerous driving. Both men appeared at Teesside Crown Court. A trial date has been set for 8 July. Related Internet Links HM Courts Service

नॉर्थ यॉर्कशायर सड़क दुर्घटना में दो किशोर लड़कों की मौत के बाद आरोपित दो लोगों ने दोषी नहीं होने का अनुरोध किया है।


The Hong Kong migrants fleeing to start new lives in the UK

Summary: The UK will introduce a new visa at the end of January that will give 5.4 million Hong Kong residents - a staggering 70% of the territory's population - the right to come and live in the UK, and eventually become citizens.

By Michael BristowBBC News It is making this "generous" offer to residents of its former colony because it believes China is undermining Hong Kong's rights and freedoms. Not everyone will come. Some of those eligible to leave have expressed their determination to stay and continue the fight for democracy. In the end, Britain estimates that about 300,000 will take up the visa offer over the next five years. But some are so keen to leave that they are already in the UK, including Andy Li and his wife Teri Wong. The couple moved to the city of York with their daughter Gudelia and son Paul in October, shortly after Britain announced it was planning to launch the new visa scheme. They made the move primarily for their children. "We feel that the things we treasure about Hong Kong - our core values - are fading over time," said Mr Li. "So we decided we needed to provide a better opportunity for our children, not only for their education, but also for their futures." For Mr Li, Britain provides the kind of society - the rule of law, freedom of speech, democratic elections - that he longed for in Hong Kong. Mrs Wong said she wanted her children to be able to say what they wanted at school, not like in Hong Kong, where they had to be careful. "That's not the life we want them to have," she said. Britain has allowed Hong Kong residents like Mr Li and his family to move to the UK even before the new visa comes into force. But from 31 January, they can begin the process of applying for citizenship, which will take six years. In the meantime, they will have to fund themselves, although they will be able to get healthcare and have their children educated. Gudelia, who is 14, and Paul, 11, have already found a new school. Mr Li continues to work remotely for a Chinese electronics company based in Shenzhen, the Chinese city just over the border from Hong Kong. The family are excited about their new life, but others have arrived with less of a sense of starting something good as fleeing something bad. One person who did not want to be identified came to Britain recently after taking part in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2019. "I fear for the safety and security of the friends and family who decided to stay behind," the 23-year-old told the BBC. "And I am afraid I will also become a target for the Hong Kong authorities because of my active participation in the protests." But even this person has hope for a better life: "Being granted a chance to live here is a dream come true." Since the UK handed back its former colony 23 years ago, relatively few of the territory's residents - less than 16,000 - have become British citizens. That is certain to change, partly because the new visa scheme appears to offer few hurdles for the millions eligible to apply. "I had clients applying to Canada, Australia and Taiwan who suspended their applications and now want to go to the UK," said Andrew Lo, a Hong Kong immigration adviser. Another consultant in the territory, Colin Bloomfield, said the visa provisions did appear generous, although he said Britain might add more requirements that would make it harder to move. The scheme is open to Hong Kong residents who claimed British National (Overseas), or BNO, status before the handover in 1997. A total of 2.9 million people registered and so can apply for the new visa. Their dependants - an additional two-and-a-half million people - are also eligible to travel with them. Teri Wong is the only person in her family who has registered for BNO status, but she has been allowed to bring her husband, who was born in China, and their two children to Britain with her. 'Why should I leave?' Although the British government admits that as many as one million people could apply for the visa over the next five years, it thinks only a few hundred thousand will actually do so. It believes most people will choose to remain in Hong Kong. Some residents will not want to leave behind elderly parents or learn a new language; the British weather is certain to dissuade others. Many do not want to abandon the territory to its fate. "There is a certain number of people who do not want to leave, particularly the young. They would rather die in Hong Kong," said Mr Lo. "I have a lot of clients who fight with their kids because the children don't want to emigrate. They say: 'Why should I leave? I should try my best to change this place'." More about China-Hong Kong tensions here: There is also the difficulty of finding work in Britain, as the country tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, and Brexit. And if enough come, new arrivals could face resentment from British people who oppose too much immigration. "In the cold light of day, many will decide to stay in Hong Kong," said Mr Bloomfield, whose company is called British Connections. Regardless of how many apply, the British government said it had no choice but to offer Hong Kong people an escape route. "This is not a question of numbers," said a Home Office spokesperson. "The government is committed to giving British National (Overseas) citizens in Hong Kong a choice to come to the UK, fulfilling our historic commitment to them." Britain believes that when China imposed its national security law on Hong Kong earlier this year, it breached the terms of the handover agreement signed by the two countries. The space for expressing opinions that the Chinese government does not like has certainly narrowed since the law came into effect in July. In the end, the number of Hong Kong residents emigrating to Britain might depend on how much more Beijing decides to squeeze. You may also be interested in:

ब्रिटेन जनवरी के अंत में एक नया वीजा पेश करेगा जो 54 लाख हांगकांग निवासियों-क्षेत्र की आबादी का एक चौंका देने वाला 70 प्रतिशत-को ब्रिटेन में आने और रहने का अधिकार देगा, और अंततः नागरिक बन जाएगा।


Council revenue services to merge in Suffolk

Summary: Three councils in Suffolk are looking to share their revenue and benefits services to help save £600,000.

Ipswich, Babergh and Mid Suffolk district councils believe merging their services could, as well as cutting costs, improve its performance. Councillors at a meeting of Ipswich Borough Council on Wednesday are being recommended to back the plan. A report to the committee says the plan would see a cut in jobs, although the council hopes to minimise redundancies.

सफ़ोक में तीन परिषदें 600,000 पाउंड बचाने में मदद करने के लिए अपने राजस्व और लाभ सेवाओं को साझा करना चाह रही हैं।


Man dies after collision between van and lorry in Oxfordshire

Summary: A man in his 60s has been killed in a collision between a van and a lorry in Oxfordshire.

The man, who was driving a white Ford Transit van, collided with a lorry on the A420 between Buckland and Pusey at about 03:00 BST on Thursday. A 39-year-old man from Surrey has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and is in custody. Thames Valley Police's Det Sgt Anthony Jenkins asked anyone who might have seen the crash to come forward.

ऑक्सफोर्डशायर में एक वैन और एक लॉरी के बीच टक्कर में 60 साल के एक व्यक्ति की मौत हो गई है।


Speed Welshpool: Freight firm expansion creates 20 jobs

Summary: A Powys freight transport firm is set to create 20 jobs after announcing plans to build a new £150,000 depot.

Speed Welshpool will move to a 3.5-acre brownfield site at Buttington Quarry, near Welshpool, in September. It is planning to invest in two storage buildings which will house 2,000 pallets and offer 40,000 sq ft of warehousing for local businesses. The company currently employs 40 staff and the new jobs will take the total up to 60. The firm specialises in carrying freight on pallets in the UK and Europe.

एक नया 150,000 पाउंड का डिपो बनाने की योजना की घोषणा करने के बाद एक पॉवी माल परिवहन फर्म 20 नौकरियों का सृजन करने के लिए तैयार है।


Oyster card: The growing fortune that remains unclaimed

Summary: Oyster used to be the go-to way of paying for travel around London, but 66 million of the blue plastic cards haven't been used in at least a year. And while they languish forgotten in drawers, bags and wallets, Transport for London (TfL) has amassed a fortune in unclaimed balances and deposits - now worth almost £400m.

By Lauren Potts & Daniel WainwrightBBC News It's really that much? Yes, more than £399m of customers' cash is sitting in accounts managed by the group treasury for TfL, and is being used to "improve the transport network". More than half - £202.8m - is made up of the £5 Oyster card deposit; the rest constitutes unused pay-as-you-go balances. The government body is earning interest on that money but said interest rates are low and it would be "complex" to calculate a figure for the past 12 months. Any interest earned is also spent on improvements but the money will "remain available" should customers want to use their Oyster card again or request a refund, it added. Why has it built up? There are a few reasons. When the Oyster system was introduced in 2003, it revolutionised travel across London. But journeys made in this way have steadily declined since TfL started accepting contactless in 2014. About 25 million journeys a month were made on bank cards in 2015-16, the first full year it was in use across buses, the Underground and DLR, compared to more than 99 million a month made using Oyster. But in 2018-19, contactless and mobile payment has taken the lead with 78 million journeys a month, while Oyster has dipped to about 76 million a month. So is the Oyster card dying? In short, no. TfL has issued nearly nine million cards in the past 12 months and almost one billion journeys on the TfL network were made using Oyster in 2018-19. But the rise of contactless only accounts for some of the 61 million Oyster cards and five million visitor cards that have not been tapped in or out for at least 12 months. Many are spread all over the world, kept by those who have left London or tourists who visit sporadically and have hung on to it - and consequently the remaining balance - as a memento. TfL said Londoners also often keep a spare Oyster for friends and family visiting the capital - so naturally, these are used less frequently and may lie dormant for months, or years, at a time. Why aren't people claiming? One potential reason is the average balance left on an unused Oyster is £3.46. Simply put, it might not seem worth the effort. But add the deposit on top and that £8.46 refund might just about pay for a pint in central London. There are currently 784 cards in circulation that have not been used in a year with a balance of £90 - the maximum credit that can be held on an Oyster. Surely that's worth digging around in the kitchen junk drawer to see if your card is languishing under a pile of takeaway menus. You may also be interested in: Steve Nowottny, from Money Saving Expert, did just that and reclaimed £67.85. "There's an element of inertia - people see it as a hassle, or they forget about their Oyster card and put it in a drawer, or move away from London. "Some people assume because it's not registered they can't get a refund or it's a bureaucratic process, but it's relatively straightforward and it's quite satisfying to do. "People should do it, it all adds up." OK, I'm convinced. How do I get a refund? Oyster card credit does not expire and people can apply for a refund whether the card is registered or not. TfL said it regularly publicises information about how to do so via posters, the Metro newspaper's travel page, the TfL website and via social media. Those who want a refund can do so at selected Tube station ticket machines, visitor information centres, or by calling TfL's customer service team. Up to £10 of pay-as-you-go credit, plus the deposit, can be refunded in this way. Anyone with larger balances needs to speak to customer services and post their Oyster to TfL. For those with a philanthropic streak, Oyster cards can be donated at charity boxes at Heathrow Airport, Kings Cross and Liverpool St, which since 2009 have raised £218,000 for the Railway Children. TfL's chief technology officer Shashi Verma said: "We're committed to ensuring that our customers can get back the credit on their Oyster cards if that is what they want. This is why we regularly publish the amount of credit on cards and how people can obtain a refund if they wish." What if no-one claims? At almost £400m, TfL's current "cash mountain" is more than it cost to convert the Olympic Stadium into the London Stadium for West Ham FC (£323m), more than twice as much as London's reportedly most expensive home (£160m) or the annual basic salary of at least 3,700 hospital consultants. The reality is that year on year, the unclaimed balance grows - 10 years ago, it was £30m. So if no-one bothers to get a refund, the money will continue to sit in TfL's accounts, earning interest. "It matters because this is money that people aren't using," said Mr Nowottny. "It's wasted from a consumer point of view. TfL makes it clear there's a straightforward way to get the money back, but for an awful lot of customers out there, it's wasted cash and no-one likes wasted cash." London Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon said TfL should do more to make claiming refunds easier. "TfL never stops bombarding us with advertisements and information campaigns, but highlighting this cash mountain is one issue that they remain very quiet about. "I accept that some people living in London might want to keep hold of unused Oyster cards for long periods of time in case they have friends or family staying with them, but this does not fully explain why [the total] keeps on growing."

ऑयस्टर लंदन के आसपास यात्रा करने के लिए भुगतान करने का सबसे अच्छा तरीका हुआ करता था, लेकिन कम से कम एक साल में 66 मिलियन नीले प्लास्टिक कार्ड का उपयोग नहीं किया गया है। और जब वे दराज, बैग और बटुए में भूल जाते हैं, तो ट्रांसपोर्ट फॉर लंदन (टी. एफ. एल.) ने लावारिस शेष राशि और जमा में एक भाग्य जमा किया है-जिसकी कीमत अब लगभग 400 मिलियन पाउंड है।


Man killed as trailer falls on car in Old Whittington

Summary: A man was killed when a trailer became detached from a tractor and fell on a car.

He was a passenger in a Toyota Aygo that was hit by the trailer in Station Lane, Old Whittington, Derbyshire, at 13:10 BST. Derbyshire Police said he died at the scene. The car's driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries. The tractor driver has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.

एक ट्रेलर के ट्रैक्टर से अलग हो जाने और कार पर गिरने से एक व्यक्ति की मौत हो गई।


Russian aeroplane loses gold-silver bars on take-off

Summary: There has been shock at an airport in far east Russia after bars of precious metal rained down onto the runway.

A plane laden with tonnes of gold-silver alloy was taking off from Yakutsk airport in Siberia when a loading hatch broke off. Some 200 bars, each weighing about 20kg (44 pounds), were then scattered across the runway. All of the bars have now been recovered, a spokesman for the Canadian mine owner told news agency Interfax. Police have launched an investigation into the cause of the accident. You may also like:

सुदूर पूर्वी रूस के एक हवाई अड्डे पर रनवे पर कीमती धातु की छड़ें गिरने से झटका लगा है।


Motorcyclists killed in Market Drayton tractor crash

Summary: A man and a woman have been killed after their motorcycle was in a collision with a tractor.

They were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash in Crickmerry, near Market Drayton, in Shropshire. Their motorcycle collided with a tractor on the A41 shortly after 11:00 GMT on Sunday. The road was closed while police investigated the crash scene and West Mercia Police is appealing for any witnesses and information. Nobody else was injured in the crash. Latest news from the West Midlands Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone.

ट्रैक्टर से मोटरसाइकिल की टक्कर में एक पुरुष और एक महिला की मौत हो गई है।


Five new things about online campaigning

Summary: What has changed online since the UK's last nationwide election?

By Joey D'UrsoBBC Politics Labour did surprisingly well in the 2017 general election, and social media probably played a role - or at least indicated something amiss in pre-election polls. Pro-Jeremy Corbyn messages went viral online - particularly on Facebook - and were seen and shared by far more people than Conservative ones. Later this month the UK will hold European Parliament elections. What should we be looking out for online - and what has changed in the last two years? 1) Facebook's algorithm In 2017 the Conservatives spent more than on Facebook advertising than Labour. But lists of most-shared stories on the most popular social network were dominated by posts sympathetic to Labour and hostile to Theresa May's party. Instead of Labour relying on paid advertisements to push their messages, supporters were sharing them for free. However, in the upcoming European Parliament elections, it might be harder for posts in support of Labour - or any other party - to spread quite so far or fast. That's because at the start of 2018, Facebook announced a change to its algorithm, the code that decides what posts are given priority in your News Feed. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg chose to prioritise "posts from your friends and family" and make posts from "businesses, brands and media" less prominent. It changed the media landscape overnight, with many publishers, particularly video sites, struggling to retain traffic. In the political world, the algorithm change particularly affected pro-Labour sites like Novara Media, the Canary and Skwawkbox. During the 2017 campaign some posts got tens of thousands of shares on Facebook but given the algorithm changes - along with the usual ebb in political engagement outside of general elections - it's highly unlikely that these numbers will be reached in 2019. 2) Pivot to privacy For years the focal point of Facebook has been the News Feed, but this has recently been the source of scandals, with misinformation or "fake news" going viral on the platform. The company has also faced a criticism over revelations about Cambridge Analytica. Facebook recently announced a strategic change of direction to address these concerns. On 6 March chief executive Mark Zuckerberg announced that "privacy-focused communications" would become more important than "open social networks" in the future. The new plans include adding end-to-end encryption to all messaging services, "reducing the permanence" of content posted on Facebook, and merging elements of Facebook Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp. More broadly, there are indications that political conversations in the UK increasingly take place within closed groups on Facebook and WhatsApp, where people can discuss issues with like-minded people in a semi-private format. However this comes with risks - closed groups can become incubators for offensive content, such as Islamophobia in pro-Conservative groups, and anti-Semitism in pro-Labour ones. During recent election campaigns in Brazil and India, misinformation spread rapidly in WhatsApp groups. And in closed groups it is much harder for regulators, researchers and journalists to observe what is going on. 3) Facebook's ad archives In one key way, Facebook has moved to increase transparency, through its political advertising archive. The aim is to shed light on so-called "dark ads" - messages targeted at particular groups, but which are all but invisible to people outside of the target audience. For instance, during the 2016 EU referendum, the official Vote Leave campaign spent more than £2.7m on targeted ads on Facebook. The ads were viewed more than 169 million times - Facebook eventually released them to the general public, two years later. "Dark ads" were also a key feature of the 2017 election campaign, with Labour, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and other parties targeting groups of voters. A number of organisations and media outlets - including the BBC - urged voters to send in examples of political advertising they were seeing in their feeds. The new ad archive, launched last year, makes that job easier. New rules mean people posting political ads must prove their identity and location. And it's now possible to browse the database of political ads and view a demographic breakdown of people who have seen a particular advert. We still do not know much about ads posted on other social media sites, although Google has introduced an ad archive for the upcoming elections. Last year a BBC investigation revealed the government and the pro-Brexit group Britain's Future were both buying up Google ads to secure the top spot when people search for the phrase "What is the Brexit deal?" Thanks to Facebook's archive, we know for example that pro-EU campaign groups have spent more money on Facebook advertising than pro-Brexit ones since last October. But while the ad archive identifies the person or group behind the ad, it doesn't mean that we know exactly where their money is coming from. And researchers have criticised the system for providing no information on who the advertisers meant to target - rather than who was reached - and for not being completely comprehensive. So while we know more about online political ads than we did in 2017, there is still plenty we don't know. 4) Pressure on the tech giants Aside from the world of politics, Facebook, Twitter and Google have been accused of neglecting user privacy and providing platforms for misinformation, hate speech and other damaging content. One case in particular has become a rallying point for critics of the big social media giants. After British teenager Molly Russell took her own life in 2017, her family looked at her Instagram account and found distressing material about depression and suicide. In April the government released proposals for websites to be fined over "online harms". The proposals are also aimed at curbing terrorist content, child sex abuse and the sale of illegal goods. Labour has said the plan doesn't go far enough, while in the US presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has gone as far as saying the big social media giants should be broken up. The 2019 European Parliament elections will out against a very different public mood compared to the very recent past. Fierce criticism of Facebook and Google has now gone mainstream. 5) YouTuber candidates Celebrity politicians are nothing new. As you may have heard, in 2016 a TV star got elected president of the United States, while more recently, another became president of Ukraine. But what is new in this year's European Parliament elections is that internet celebrities are running for office. Two of UKIP's candidates gained fame through their controversial YouTube channels - Carl Benjamin, aka "Sargon of Akkad" and "Count Dankula", real name Mark Meechan. Last year, Meechan was convicted of a hate crime and fined £800 after recording a pet dog giving Nazi salutes and posting it on YouTube. He was also the subject of a recent BBC Scotland investigation which found he was a prominent user of an online forum that contained racist language and threats against ethnic minorities. Last week police said they were investigating a complaint against Benjamin, who in 2016 tweeted at Labour MP Jess Phillips: "I wouldn't even rape you... feminism is cancer." They may be the among the first YouTubers to run in a nationwide election, but it's safe to say they won't be the last. Blog by Joey D'Urso Have a story for us? Email BBC Trending You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

ब्रिटेन के पिछले राष्ट्रव्यापी चुनाव के बाद से ऑनलाइन क्या बदल गया है?


Premier Oil makes North Sea discovery

Summary: Premier Oil has announced a discovery at its Bonneville exploration well and its side track in the North Sea, more than 150km offshore from Aberdeen.

The company said the reservoirs were of "excellent quality". It estimated that the discovery contained approximately 30 million barrels of oil, which was in line with pre-drill predictions. In addition, Premier said it had discovered gas in the Matang well in Indonesia. It also said that testing of its Luno discovery in Norway had started. Simon Lockett, chief executive of Premier, said: "We are delighted with the strong start to our 2013 exploration drilling programme with the previously announced discovery at Luno II and now the discoveries at Bonneville and Matang." Premier has a 50% interest in the Bonneville well. Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy has a 30% stake and German oil and gas firm Wintershall has a 20% share.

प्रीमियर ऑयल ने एबरडीन से 150 किलोमीटर से अधिक दूर उत्तरी सागर में अपने बोनविले अन्वेषण कुएं और इसके साइड ट्रैक पर एक खोज की घोषणा की है।


Family of missing Inverness man told of Orkney human remains

Summary: Police investigating the discovery of human remains on an Orkney beach have contacted the family of a missing Inverness man.

Officers were called out to the Dingieshowe area at about 13:30 on Monday. Relatives of John Mackay, 51, who has not been seen since the beginning of November, have now been informed. Police Scotland cannot yet confirm the identity of the remains, and a post-mortem examination will take place.

ऑर्कनी समुद्र तट पर मानव अवशेषों की खोज की जांच कर रही पुलिस ने एक लापता इनवर्नेस व्यक्ति के परिवार से संपर्क किया है।


Viewpoint: The powerful factions among China's rulers

Summary: China's political elite is dominated by two factions. But once the new leaders are unveiled, who will have the upper hand, and how will competing factions balance power? As part of a series on challenges for China's new leaders, political analyst Cheng Li says the country's future could be decided by a tussle at the top.

Of all the concerns about the forthcoming political succession in China, none may ultimately prove as important as whether or not the factional balance of power will be maintained. China is now confronting widespread social unrest, slowing economic growth, increasing divisions within domestic public opinion on the issue of the country's political trajectory and rampant official corruption as revealed by the Bo Xilai scandal. Any further signs of elite disunity or upsets in the factional balance of power within the top leadership could be overwhelmingly detrimental in terms of the continued rule of the Communist Party. That is why the composition of the new Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), the supreme decision-making body in China, is critically important. What will be the status of the competing factions in that committee? Will the existing system of collective leadership in China continue - or is it headed towards failure? Populists vs princelings China is a one-party state in which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) monopolises power. The party leadership, however, is not a monolithic group. Its members do not all share the same ideology, political association, socio-economic background, or policy preferences. In fact, two main political factions or coalitions within the CCP leadership are currently competing for power, influence and control over policy initiatives. This bifurcation has created within China's one-party polity something approximating a mechanism of checks and balances in the decision-making process. This mechanism, of course, is not the kind of institutionalised system of checks and balances that operates between the executive, legislative and judicial branches in a democratic system. But this new structure - sometimes referred to in China as "one party, two coalitions" - does represent a major departure from the "all-powerful strongman" model that was characteristic of politics in the Mao and Deng eras. One of the two intra-party groups in China is the "populist coalition", which is led by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. The other is the "elitist coalition", which emerged in the Jiang Zemin era and used to be headed by Jiang but is currently led by both Wu Bangguo, chairman of the national legislature, and Jia Qinglin, head of a national political advisory body. These four individuals - Mr Hu, Mr Wu, Mr Wen and Mr Jia - are currently China's top leaders. These two political camps share the seats in the top leadership organisations in a way as to reach a near-perfect balance. The nine-member PSC, for example, has - at least prior to this 2012 Party Congress - maintained a four-to-five split, with four seats for the populist coalition and five going to the elitist coalition. Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, who will likely take over the top two posts at the 2012 Party Congress, each represent one of these two coalitions. The two coalitions represent different socio-economic and geographical constituencies. Most of the top leaders in the elitist coalition, for instance, are "princelings", leaders who come from families of veteran revolutionaries or of high-ranking officials. These princelings often began their careers in the economically well-developed coastal cities. The elitist coalition usually represents the interests of China's entrepreneurs. Most leading figures in the populist coalition, by contrast, come from less-privileged families. They also tend to have accumulated much of their leadership experience in the less-developed inland provinces. Many advanced in politics by way of the Chinese Communist Youth League and have therefore garnered the label tuanpai, literally meaning "league faction". These populists often voice the concerns of vulnerable social groups, such as farmers, migrant workers and the urban poor. Leaders of these two competing factions differ in expertise, credentials and experience. Yet they understand the need to compromise, the necessity of cutting deals, in order to co-exist - especially in times of crisis. And there is a crisis going on now - one brought on by scandals among the factional leaders. Threats to stability The most serious one has centred on Bo Xilai, a prominent princeling. Another case is Ling Jihua, Hu Jintao's former chief of staff and up until recently a rising star in the tuanpai faction. Having become embroiled in a scandal of his own, Ling was appointed to a less important position on the eve of the Party Congress. These scandals among factional leaders, however, can and should be easily dismissed. Factions themselves are too strong to be dismantled. Factional tensions and dynamics now constitute the defining feature of Chinese elite politics. Outside analysts must develop a sophisticated understanding of Chinese factional politics, one that understands that Chinese leaders are not always mired in factional infighting. In fact on most occasions and on many issues, they tend to co-operate. There is, at least for now, tremendous incentive among all senior leaders regardless of faction to unite under new party chief Xi Jinping to show elite cohesion and political solidarity. Paradoxically, it is also in the interest of both factions to have the existing balance of power remain intact (a three-to-four split assuming the new committee will consist of seven members). The overall balance of power should also take into consideration the composition of the full Politburo and the Central Military Commission, including whether or not Hu Jintao steps down as the chairman of the powerful military commission at the Party Congress. But recent rumours hold that the factional split in the new standing committee will shift to two-to-five (two tuanpai versus five princelings or protégés of Jiang). If true, this could be highly problematic. If the factional balance is not maintained, the defeated faction would likely use its political resources and socio-economic constituencies to undermine the legitimacy of the political system, which in turn would threaten the stability of the country at large. Even if the current balance of power remains, China's emerging "bipartisanship" is still at risk of failure. Deal-cutting, power-sharing and political compromise is not always easy. The fact that there are more ambitious candidates than available seats may naturally create a sense of winners and losers. Controversy concerning personnel appointments, especially when it comes to membership in the Politburo and PSC, could become viciously contentious, leading factional infighting to spiral out of control. In addition, conflicts of interests and disputes over policies - including distribution of resources, financial reforms, rural land reforms, public health and social welfare reform, affordable urban housing initiatives, anti-corruption mechanisms and other political and judicial reforms - could prove so controversial that the new leadership may find it increasingly difficult to build the kind of consensus necessary to govern effectively. A frequent criticism of Chinese collective leadership found both in China and abroad is that this new political structure tends to make the decision-making process lengthier and more complicated, often resulting in deadlock. Top leaders, most noticeably President Hu and Premier Wen, sometimes proved themselves unable to effect initiatives or policy decisions due to resistance from other members of the standing committee. Critics fear that soon-to-be President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang will face even tougher obstacles due to both the competitiveness of their peers and increasing institutional constraints. Chinese-style democracy? One may argue, however, that it is neither feasible nor desirable for China to return to the era of strongman politics. Only if China actually went to war or experienced prolonged domestic chaos might a political environment emerge in which a strong leader - possibly an egoistic and ultra-nationalistic demagogue like Bo wished to be - come to the fore. The choice, of course, should not be just between an ineffective collective leadership on the one hand or an effective but dangerous dictator on the other. China's "one party, two coalitions" experiment, despite its limitations, may gradually overcome the system's deficiencies, thus paving the way for a systemic transition to a Chinese style of democracy. At this week's Party Congress, the leadership must find a way to guarantee the strong administrative power and political authority for Xi Jinping, the first among equals, and to prevent retired top leaders (namely Jiang and Hu) from interfering in the decision-making process. The widely speculated downsizing of the PSC from nine seats to seven is significant on two counts. First, this move will likely eliminate two specific positions - the propaganda czar and the police czar - that have constituted the main obstacles to economic liberalisation and political reform. Second, this smaller size will likely enhance the top leader's power. More importantly, given the deep legitimacy crisis facing communist rule and the growing public resentment of nepotism and patron-client ties in the selection of leaders, the authorities should adopt more mechanisms for intra-party elections. The full Central Committee can elect seven from the eight candidates on the ballot for the standing committee, which will in fact not change the factional balance of power (as four candidates can be chosen from each camp). Or alternatively, the full Central Committee can elect the 25-member Politburo with more candidates on the ballot. The intra-party election in this highest level of leadership can build a new source of legitimacy and mandate for new leaders. Success or failure, China's collective leadership and its factional dynamics will have a major impact on how the most populous country in the world will be governed in the years to come.

चीन के राजनीतिक अभिजात वर्ग में दो गुटों का वर्चस्व है। लेकिन एक बार नए नेताओं का खुलासा होने के बाद, किसके पास ऊपरी हाथ होगा, और प्रतिस्पर्धी गुट सत्ता को कैसे संतुलित करेंगे? चीन के नए नेताओं के लिए चुनौतियों पर एक श्रृंखला के हिस्से के रूप में, राजनीतिक विश्लेषक चेंग ली का कहना है कि देश का भविष्य शीर्ष पर एक संघर्ष से तय किया जा सकता है।


Brexit: One extraordinary day

Summary: Look away now if you are of a nervous disposition.

Laura KuenssbergPolitical editor@bbclaurakon Twitter A wiser head than me - there's dispute over whether it was Mark Twain or Bismarck! - once remarked that laws are like sausages, if you respect them it's best not to watch them being made. Well the last forty eight hours in Westminster may give weight to that. Farce? Fiasco? Or maybe today in Parliament has been in the best tradition of British pantomime. Or perhaps, this is in fact the completely predictable agony of split political parties, with leaders who struggle to command their troops, just trying to make it through after a huge vote that by its very nature, split the country in two. Or depending on your view, it is perhaps exactly what Parliament is there for, to reveal the contradictions, where the government is strong and weak, and force ministers to give a bit where they ought to. Whichever of those over-generalisations you plump for, and I suspect it will depend entirely on your own political convictions, this has been an extraordinary day. MPs talking of "meltdown", or "uncharted territory", warning the prime minister against "betrayal". Trust in Tory circles breaking down, as the prime minister tries to face all ways. There was the SNP's dramatic, if perhaps politically convenient, walk out over discussions of devolution being massively squeezed, complete with a scene where the Speaker looked like he might finally combust. Then votes tonight that saw one of the biggest ever rebellions against Jeremy Corbyn, with 90 of his MPs disobeying his orders on a vote on the European Economic Area. Several of his front bench team quit their shadow posts to do so. But even those rebels were split - 75 of them rebelling against the leadership to vote for closer ties to the EU, and 15 against Mr Corbyn to choose more distant relations. And 14 Tories defied Theresa May's instructions too. For a government with no majority, that is a worry for the prime minister. At times in the last forty eight hours this place has felt like a circus. But in the end, the government showed it can just get its way, whether by winning the argument, backing down, or postponing confrontation for now. It's not been pretty, and it's not going to get any easier. One former minister grimly predicted this is turning into Maastricht. So, tomorrow, stand by for another row over what happens next.

यदि आप घबराए हुए हैं तो अब दूर देखें।


Countess of Wessex visits Dawlish charity shop

Summary: A member of the Royal family made a surprise visit to a Devon charity shop.

HRH The Countess of Wessex visited Brainwave's new charity shop in Dawlish, which opened in August. The Countess, who is president of the charity, which provides care for children with disabilities, met staff and volunteers. Christine Cryne from Brainwave said: "Our team were surprised and delighted. It was a really motivating experience." Related Internet Links Brainwave

शाही परिवार के एक सदस्य ने डेवोन चैरिटी की दुकान पर अचानक दौरा किया।


How fear set in overnight in Sri Lanka

Summary: It took years for Sandya Ekneligoda to get a real investigation into the disappearance of her husband, a political cartoonist in Sri Lanka. But when a new president was elected by a large majority last November and a key officer investigating the case transferred, she realised things would change. The BBC's Anbarasan Ethirajan reports from the other side of a political watershed.

About an hour into our conversation at her home outside Colombo, Sandya Ekneligoda glanced outside. "By this time the police would have been informed that you were here talking to me," she said with a wry smile. She thinks she is being watched, because she is a thorn in the side of Sri Lanka's new political order. It's certainly true that for a lot of people, the change of government meant things were about to change considerably. A victory uncomfortable for some Just weeks earlier, on 16 November 2019, Gotabaya Rajapaksa had won a comfortable victory in the presidential election. The new president is a man well-known to Sri Lankans. He served as defence secretary in his brother Mahinda Rajapaska's administration, overseeing the bloody end of the country's civil war between the army and Tamil separatist rebels a decade ago. It is a war tainted by allegations of human rights abuses on both sides, extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances. Ms Ekneligoda's husband was one of those who went missing. Prageeth Ekneligoda was a cartoonist and trenchant critic of Mahinda Rajapaksa. One day in early 2010, many months after the end of the war, he left home never to return. Six months earlier, he had been briefly kidnapped and interrogated by men in one of the white vans which would become synonymous with disappearances at the time. The journalist told his family that he knew who they were working for. Many fear that the Rajapaksa brothers' return to power will re-open old wounds and rivalries, but most are afraid to speak out. Ms Ekneligoda, however, has gone beyond the point of no return when it comes to keeping her counsel. She ensured the story of her husband's disappearance got global headlines. By her account, a proper investigation into his disappearance only picked up momentum after 2015 when a new government took over following the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa. The case was handled by then director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Shani Abeysekara. It was to him she personally handed files and evidence pertaining to her husband's case. Charges were finally brought against nine army intelligence officers last November - 11 days after the election that brought Gotabaya Rajapksa back to power. The officers are thought to be part of a shadowy unit operating out of an army camp in Giritale in Sri Lanka's dry, dusty north-central province, 200km (125 miles) away from the capital. Investigators believe the cartoonist was taken to the camp. But then, despite the charges against the nine suspects, everything changed. "Already the main accused have been released on bail. The police officers investigating the case have been transferred. The surveillance [on our family] has increased," said Ms Ekneligoda. The new government denies the surveillance allegations. Even Mr Abeysekara was transferred within a week of the election, in what was a clear demotion. "Now I do not have any hope of getting justice," said Ms Ekneligoda. 'Exonerating' old military friends Estimates from various agencies say that about 20,000 Sri Lankans disappeared during the country's long conflict. That includes Tamils, rights activists, government critics and journalists, including people such as Mr Ekneligoda who operated well outside the war zone. These rough estimates are also thought to include around 5,000 soldiers. But commissions set up by the government after the conflict to investigate alleged war crimes and enforced disappearances were dismissed by many as nothing more than attempts to deflect mounting international pressure. In a BBC interview last year, Gotabaya Rajapaksa strongly denied any involvement in any alleged disappearances. The Rajapaksa administration has always vehemently denied accusations of rights abuses and war crimes, pointing to alleged abuses by the rebels instead. Now firmly back in power, it also has short shift for what it sees as arbitrary accusations against military personnel. This is something that strikes a chord with many in the country, who still feel they sent their sons off to a protracted and brutal conflict, only for them to be vilified. One of the campaign pledges of Gotabaya Rajapaksa that resonated through the Sinhala heartlands in the lush south of the country was to release and rehabilitate all those soldiers facing what they call "framed allegations" of rights abuses. The new administration has wasted no time in fulfilling its promise. In January, a senior naval officer and 13 others, who had been charged with the abduction and disappearance of 11 youths in the Colombo area in 2008-2009, were all released on bail. Weeks later, one of their number - Commodore DKP Dassanayake, the navy's spokesman during the final stages of the offensive against the Tamil Tiger rebels - was promoted to rear admiral. He denies all the charges against him. Meanwhile, a presidential commission - set up in the weeks after the recent election to determine whether government officials, both civil and military, had been victimised or discriminated against by the previous government - has recommended suspending the case altogether. Sri Lanka's attorney general has stood his ground, saying the commission had no legal ground to issue such a directive and the case must continue. For people like Sandya Ekneligoda, the direction of travel is clear; she and other critics allege the government is simply out to exonerate its old allies no matter what they are accused of. Dismantling a 'hostile' department? But it was the radical and immediate reorganisation of Sri Lanka's CID that surprised many, including former police officers. The unit carries some independence within the police department, recruiting highly-skilled detectives to look into murders, commercial fraud and high-profile crimes. Most of the officers had served in the department for a long time, allowing them to specialise. It was a department that had begun to make a name for itself for being unafraid to target big names. But within days of the election, Nishantha De Silva - one of Mr Abeysekara's deputies - had fled to Switzerland fearing for his safety. The government was furious and promptly barred more than 700 other CID officers from leaving the country without permission. Then in January Mr Abeysekara was suspended from his post after a purported leaked telephone conversation between him and a former minister reportedly discussing a politically sensitive murder case which took place during the Mahinda Rajapaksa presidency in 2011. The government has accused the CID of running a politically motivated operation allied to the UNP party, now in opposition, and that others will take their place. "Some may have been biased towards some investigation," Chandra Fernando, a former inspector general of police and adviser to Mahinda Rajapaksa, told the BBC. "Those people cannot be kept [in their posts] for a long period." But a look at the cases the CID was investigating gives a sense of what's at stake for the new government. Mr Abeysekara and Mr De Silva had investigated many cases that made headlines worldwide, including the killing of newspaper editor, Lasantha Wickremetunge, who was shot and stabbed to death on his way to work in one of the busiest roads in Colombo in 2009 by unidentified men. A fierce critic of the Rajapaksas, he also wrote about alleged corruption in defence deals at the time. That case was reopened in 2015 - the same year as Mr Ekneligoda's case - resulting in the arrests of several army intelligence officers. In 2016, it took a darker turn when local media reported that a retired intelligence officer had taken his own life after leaving a note saying he was responsible and the others were innocent. Another case pertained to the beating and abduction of the assistant editor of The Nation newspaper, Keith Noyahr. Several army personnel, including a major general, were arrested after the CID started investigating the assault when a new government took over from Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2015. That case is still pending in the courts. Many in the media say they are also now feeling the chill. "The mood is one of self-censorship. Everybody is holding back," said Gihan Nicolas, who works for Newshub, a website which criticised the Rajapaksas in the run-up to the election. Its office was raided by police soon after Gotabaya Rajapaksa came to power. A spokesman for Mr Rajapaksa's administration said he was "not aware" of any government involvement in the raid. He also rejected suggestions that high-profile cases against the brothers might not now receive proper legal scrutiny. "We will never interfere with the judiciary. The judiciary will take the case on its own. We have no intention of interfering in any of the legal matters," the spokesman, Keheliya Rambukwella, told the BBC. What of the missing? But what about the others who are still waiting to hear about loved ones? Not the editors and the cartoonists, who could give voice to their concerns, but the mothers and wives in the north where the worst of the war violence took place. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Tamil families say they have not heard anything from their relatives after they surrendered to the army. Kandasamy Ponnamma, an elderly Tamil woman from the northern town of Kilinochchi - far away from political appointments and military rehabilitation - is still waiting for answers, as are many others like her. "After they surrendered, I saw my son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren being taken away in a bus by the Sri Lankan troops. I still don't know where they are and what happened to them," Ms Ponnamma said. They had placed their hopes in the Office of Missing Persons, finally set up in 2018 after years of international pressure. But it had only just begun its work - and now, following the election, its future looks highly uncertain. "Some of the local rights groups working with the OMP have come already under pressure. Military intelligence personnel have visited their offices and questioned them about their finances and funding," said an activist, who did not want to be identified. Gotabaya Rajapaksa rejects allegations that those who surrendered to the army at the end of the war were killed in cold blood. But the messaging is confused - as evidenced when he told UN officials in January that most of the missing were actually dead. After a wave of anger and outrage officials back-tracked, saying that most of the missing civilians had actually been forcibly recruited by Tamil rebels. But it is not a question that will go away for the government - whether it is the disappearance and murder of journalists, the abduction of young men, or the fate of thousands of Tamils caught up in the fighting as the war ended. There are still many thousands of relatives waiting for answers. Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who has won praise for bringing political stability after years of infighting during the last administration, wants the country to turn a new chapter and focus on development and security. But activists point out that it will be difficult to look towards the future without genuinely addressing the ghosts of the past. Meanwhile, as the case against the men involved in her husband's alleged disappearance continues, Sandya Ekneligoda, who can only assume her husband is no longer alive, must carry on waiting and asking.

सैंड्या एकनेलिगोडा को श्रीलंका में एक राजनीतिक कार्टूनिस्ट, अपने पति के लापता होने की वास्तविक जांच करने में कई साल लग गए। लेकिन जब पिछले नवंबर में एक बड़े बहुमत से एक नया राष्ट्रपति चुना गया और मामले की जांच करने वाले एक प्रमुख अधिकारी का तबादला कर दिया गया, तो उन्हें एहसास हुआ कि चीजें बदल जाएंगी। बीबीसी के अनबरसन एथिराजन एक राजनीतिक क्षेत्र के दूसरी तरफ से रिपोर्ट करते हैं।


'The most beautiful and elegant city in the world'

Summary: Throughout the long battle for Aleppo, as Syria's most ancient city has been blasted into ruins around him, one man has worked continuously to preserve an image of the city as it once was, before the horrors of war arrived.

By Lina ShaikhouniBBC Monitoring A little over 10 years ago Alaa al-Sayyed unlocked a sealed basement in his wife's parents' house and made a fascinating discovery. No-one had entered the room for years, possibly decades, and among the family memorabilia al-Sayyed found more than 100 photographic plates taken by the Wattar brothers - ancestors of his wife - illustrating scenes of daily life in Aleppo in the 1920s and 30s. "The more I researched the history of the images, the more deeply I delved into the history of each neighbourhood and building in the city," he says. In 2010, he published a book, Aleppo's History in Pictures - and two years later Syria's war began. Each shell that landed on his native city, each bomb that exploded, he felt personally. When, in 2013, several important libraries containing thousands of important documents were burned down or destroyed, he was spurred into action. It became his mission to make digital copies of every historically important document and photograph he could find, and upload them to the web for posterity. Al-Sayyed had already been visiting libraries and digitising historical papers for some years, but he stepped up his activities with the help of three student volunteers. In 2014 they launched the Aleppo National Archives, using a Facebook page as a public showcase. "We worked under conditions of war, siege, and power and water cuts," he says. "We also lost internet connection for long periods of time." Without external funding, they scanned everything from rare books and government documents to family records, and maps. Even recent maps hold importance when the layout of the city is being altered on a daily basis. Among the Aleppo newspapers in the archive are some that date back to the 19th Century. "Newspapers are treasure troves documenting daily life in the city and their issues are often destroyed and rarely saved," al-Sayyed says. Many of those he has digitised have since been destroyed. As well as exploring libraries, al-Sayyed has spent a lot of time going through the contents of attics and cellars of private homes - and using his powers of persuasion to impress upon the owners the importance of making a digital record. As time went on, and the war intensified, his volunteers left the city. He and his family have remained, however, partly because of his attachment to his personal library. "The biggest reason I did not leave may be due to my inability to leave my books," he says. "Separating from them is difficult." He still uploads new images to the archive with the help of a friend in Canada. The archive's photographs provide a record of the city that is valuable both for those who have remained in the city during the past four-and-a-half years of conflict, and those who have left. Before the war Aleppo had a population of more than two million, but according to some estimates this figure has more than halved. "May God rest your soul Aleppo… I cannot breathe without your air," reads one comment. Another: "May God bring back the mornings spent in Aleppo." A third reads: "Did I not tell you that it is the most beautiful and elegant city in the world." But the photographs also record the tragedy of the city's destruction. The citadel, at the heart of the city, was usually bustling with noise and people, from morning to night. Cafes near the main gate were filled with people playing cards and smoking Argileh (Shisha) water pipes. Today the area is deserted and most of its buildings destroyed. In 2014 rebel forces detonated a bomb underneath the Carlton Hotel, which they said was being used by the army, and razed it to the ground. The al-Madina souk - a large network of stone alleyways which dates back to the 14th Century and used to be filled with stalls selling everything under the sun - was burned in 2012. Before the war began al-Sayyed used to relax with his wife and two children by visiting buildings of historical or architectural interest. "I used to take them on a tour every Friday and explain things to them in detail," he says. "It was as though I had a feeling in my heart that they would not be able to see them later." Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.

अलेप्पो के लिए लंबी लड़ाई के दौरान, जब सीरिया के सबसे प्राचीन शहर को उसके चारों ओर खंडहरों में विस्फोट कर दिया गया है, एक व्यक्ति ने युद्ध की भयावहता आने से पहले शहर की छवि को संरक्षित करने के लिए लगातार काम किया है।


Hiroshima bomb: The day Michiko nearly missed her train

Summary: On the morning of 6 August 1945, Michiko overslept.

By Colin InnesContributor "I remember thinking, 'I can make it to work on time if I get the later train, but I still might catch my usual train if I run to the station'," she wrote, years later, in an account of the day. "I ran to Yokogawa station, and I jumped on my usual train in the nick of time." Michiko's sprint saved her life. It meant she was safely inside her workplace when her city - Hiroshima - was hit by the first nuclear bomb ever used in war. "If I had missed my usual train, I would have died somewhere between Yokogawa station and Hiroshima station," she wrote. Michiko Yoshitsuka, 14, was a student at a girls' school in the heart of Hiroshima. But when the city enlisted school children for the war effort, she'd started working at the Toyo Kogyo factory, 8km (5 miles) east of the city centre, making weapons for the Imperial Japanese Army. If she did oversleep that day, it was through exhaustion rather than laziness. She spent long hours at the factory. The war had led to widespread food shortages, so she was plagued by hunger, and the previous night - like many nights before it - US B-29 bombers had flown over Hiroshima, triggering air raid sirens. The all-clear siren had sounded at around 7am. But no-one outside the Manhattan Project - the US government research group that developed the atomic bombs - could have predicted the devastation that was to come. The Enola Gay had flown from the US base on Tinian, in the Mariana Islands, to Hiroshima a few hours earlier. At 8.15am it dropped the bomb the Americans affectionately called Little Boy, obliterating the city. An estimated 140,000 people died in Hiroshima, either immediately or in the months to come. Michiko survived, thanks to Hijiyama, the high hill between her factory and the city centre, which shielded it from the force of the blast. She watched the plumage of smoke rising above Hijiyama. In the chaos, she headed for Nakayamatoge, the mountain path leading to her relatives' house in Gion; on the path she crossed thousands of people leaving the devastated city. "There were wounded people everywhere. I saw scores of people whose bodies lay burnt and festering, whose eyeballs had popped out from the wind pressure produced by the explosion, or whose internal organs protruded from their bodies and mouths," she wrote. "As I walked along, someone suddenly grabbed my ankle and begged, 'Young lady, could you give me some water?' I brushed away the hand… and said, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry!' I was filled with fear and walked on to escape." At Gion, Michiko was relieved to find her mother alive. But there was no time to recover. "For 10 days, my mother and I walked around Hiroshima, asking after my older brother, who was a soldier. We later discovered… he had died near the epicentre… My brother's remains were never found." She may have survived, but Michiko fell ill soon after. Her symptoms were becoming familiar to the doctors still alive. "I began to display the symptoms of radiation sickness… I was bleeding from my gums and my nose, I had severe diarrhoea, my hair was falling out, and purple spots were appearing all over my body," she wrote later. "I was put into isolation in a family friend's shed, and I moved between life and death. Everyone around me thought I would die, but, miraculously, I survived." The bombings of Hiroshima and of Nagasaki days later did not end the war by themselves. The US naval blockade, the imminent Russian invasion and the reworded Potsdam Declaration - the terms for Japan's surrender - to enable continued Imperial rule were also decisive. On 15 August, Emperor Hirohito's surrender was broadcast to the nation. When he announced that Japan must "bear the unbearable", many Hiroshima citizens were aghast: had they not already borne it? In the days, weeks and months that followed, Hiroshima responded with resilience. Within three days of the bombing, trains, trams and buses were running again. Within two months, schools reopened in half-destroyed buildings and open-air classrooms. And with all but one of the city's banks destroyed, the Bank of Japan - the sole survivor - invited its competitors into its branch to re-open for business. Hiroshima rose from its ashes. Michiko was rebuilding her life too. "In 1948, at the age of 18, I got married. In April 1949, I gave birth to a baby girl. But she died two weeks later. I believe my baby's death was caused by the after-effects of the atomic bomb." She gave birth to two healthy children, but soon had other problems. Her husband would often disappear to spend time with his mistress, taking Michiko's earnings with him. Exhausted by a tiredness she attributed to her radiation sickness, frustrated by her husband's affair and craving freedom from her situation, Michiko often passed her children into the care of her relatives. When they returned, she would take her frustrations out on her daughter, Sanae. "In 1964, my mother died of cancer. In my family, I was left alone. My mother had been receiving a war bereavement allowance. The Japanese government withdrew this following my mother's death." When Michiko finally confronted her husband, he admitted to having an affair and left her for his mistress. With no financial support from her husband or the state, Michiko struggled. Yet she found work as a hostess in a traditional Japanese restaurant; each evening, she put on her kimono and served customers late into the night. Every year, on August 6th, Hiroshima held its Peace Memorial Ceremony, attended by luminaries like Mother Theresa, Fidel Castro and Mikhail Gorbachev. But Michiko couldn't reconcile the glib peace speeches with her images of that day and never attended the morning ceremony. She would arrive in the evening to watch the floating lanterns, representing the souls of the deceased, released down the Motoyasu River. When Sanae had children - a girl and a boy - her broken relationship with her daughter gradually healed. During Obon, the August holiday when families honour the spirits of their ancestors, she would visit Sanae's family. Together they would watch a TV drama about the atomic bombing. Michiko found it unconvincing. "Anna mono janai!" - "It wasn't like that!" - her family remember her saying. For most of her life, Michiko spoke little about her experiences in 1945. But as the 50th anniversary of the bombing approached, in 1995, Michiko's doctor suggested she write her own account of events, to help her find some closure. At first Michiko was reluctant, but she finally agreed; she feared that if she didn't, her memories might be lost forever. By that point, Hiroshima was a thriving modern city with wide boulevards, luxury department stores and few remains of its tragic past. Michiko had been living in a council flat near the centre when she was relocated to Hesaka, an eastern suburb. Her new flat was near Nakayamatoge, the mountain path she had crossed on the day of the bombing. The figure that had grabbed her ankle returned to haunt her. "I will never be able to erase from my memory the sound of that voice," she wrote. When I first moved to Hiroshima, I knew little about its history. But I met a woman called Kaori, who told me the story of Michiko, her grandmother. Years later, as husband and wife, we translated Michiko's account - moved by her sad story and determination to survive. My wife recalls Michiko falling into depression in her later years. As a strong-minded woman in a society that valued tatemae (public face) over honne (true feelings/ desires), she had always struggled to make friends. But now she felt truly isolated. Later, suffering from dementia, she moved into a home for the elderly. Michiko died in January 2012. Her written account has now been placed in the Peace Memorial Hall in Hiroshima - one woman's memories of a day that changed history and altered the course of her own life forever. Her final entry hints at the human ability to overcome adversity and build a life again. "Now, on the 50th anniversary of the atomic bomb, I sense afresh the preciousness of life." Follow Colin on Twitter @col_innes

6 अगस्त 1945 की सुबह, मिचिको को नींद आ गई।