The wettest summer on record - 10 years on from the 2007 floods

Summary: The summer of 2007 was the wettest on record. There was 414mm of rainfall across England and Wales from May to July - more than in any period since records began in 1766. Across Yorkshire and the Midlands, thousands of people were rescued, whole towns cut off and families forced to flee their properties.

By Lisa WrightBBC News In late July, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire became the latest parts of England to be inundated. Flooding left 48,000 homes without power for two days, and 10,000 motorists were stranded on the M5 overnight. In Tewkesbury, the whole town became cut off and the RAF and Army were drafted in to help with the relief effort. Three people died. An aerial photograph of the town and its famous abbey, depicting an island surrounded by a sea of brown water, became one of the defining images of that most sodden of summers. Ten years on, the BBC revisits some of those caught up in the flooding. 'There was somebody coming up the road in a canoe' The day - 20 July - had started off like any other. But while at work, where she was a partner at a lettings firm in Cheltenham, Sheila Heath noticed the drains "bubbling" up with water from the torrential rainfall. She knew immediately something was "seriously wrong", so she sent her staff home and tried to make her way back to Tewkesbury but was forced to abandon her journey and stay with a friend. When she made it home the following morning, Mrs Heath, now 63, arrived to find her house had been inundated. She had to wade through waist-deep water to get to her front door. "The whole area was like a lake," she recalls. "There was somebody coming up the road in a canoe; it was totally surreal." It was six days before the water subsided, during which time the family lived at a nearby bed and breakfast. With their house uninhabitable, they bought a caravan and pitched it outside, remaining there for seven months. With many in the street doing the same, it became "like a caravan site", she said. The cost of the damage - which was covered by the insurers - was £98,000, but many treasured possessions were irreplaceable. "It was what we had built up all our married life, it was our home, all of our personal possessions," said Mrs Heath. "It's still upsetting to this day. "Everything you've built up over your life is just gone. All the photographs have gone, all the memories, gifts from the children, all your personal things have gone." The summer 2007 floods - in numbers Source: Environment Agency 'An icon of hope' It was after saying afternoon prayers on 20 July 2007, that the Reverend Canon Paul Williams, the vicar of Tewkesbury Abbey, first became aware something unusual was happening. "I noticed that the rain hadn't stopped all day," he said. "I felt an eerie feeling so I went out up to the borough council and the mayor was there. He said 'we've been warned something serious is on the way and will we open the abbey to make sure it's a place of refuge'." Drivers caught in the downpour slept in the abbey, with hundreds put up that Friday night. "People were sleeping on kneelers, one family was wrapped in an altar cloth," he said. "During that night lots of people were up and making sure that people using the abbey as refuge were looked after." The rain had cleared on Saturday and those stranded were able to leave the abbey, which was even able to host a wedding ceremony. But on Sunday 22 July the rivers broke. "The abbey changed from being an ark to being an icon of resilience," said Canon Williams. "It was like a ship ploughing through the waters. It was an icon of hope." It was that Sunday the famous photographs of Tewkesbury Abbey, standing proudly above the floodwater, were taken. They went on to become some of the most enduring images of that summer's floods. "Someone once said it was one of the iconic images, like St Paul's in the Blitz, it's that type of image that will remain with people. You need icons to give you hope; the abbey gave us hope at that time," said Canon Williams. During the Gloucestershire town's short spell as an "island", the sense of community spirit shone through. "There was an extraordinary feeling of camaraderie, particularly after the rivers broke - we were helping each other, making sure people were OK. There wasn't fear, there was respect. "You couldn't get in or out. We were completely cut off. We got on with our business." Remarkably, the abbey came away relatively unscathed. The same could not be said for the rest of Tewkesbury. More than 800 properties were flooded that July - largely by surface water and some smaller tributaries, before the Rivers Avon and Severn rose to record levels. During the same period, the Mythe Water Treatment Works also flooded, leaving half the homes in Gloucestershire without water for 17 days. And while it took years for the town to fully recover, Canon Williams says the community is "moving forward together". "Of course that's part of our history, but we are looking to the future." 'It devastated the whole town' Grahame Bunn, landlord of the Kings Head pub in Upton upon Severn, was gearing up for the town's blues festival when the rain started. "The Environment Agency had said on the Wednesday that there was a possibility the river would flood, [but] this was the summer - we thought the Environment Agency was talking of their bottom," he said. The Worcestershire town was supposed to be protected by temporary flood barriers, he said, and thousands of pounds worth of stock was sitting in his cellar. "They said the barriers would go up on Friday, [but the] rivers started rising late Thursday." It was too late to save his stock; the pub flooded waist-high with water. His wife Claire, their son and three dogs were among those taken by boat through the floodwater. The pub closed for four months and did not fully reopen until February 2008. "It just devastated not only my business, but the whole of the town," said Mr Bunn, 58. "I don't think it has ever recovered." While the Bunn family, who lived above the pub, were able to remain there as repairs were carried out, hundreds of thousands of pounds of damage was caused. Mr Bunn got a job working on the gravel barges on the river as the family had no income while the Kings Head was closed. "We bought the pub in 2000 and knew there was a possibility it was going to flood," he said. "We had flooded many times before 2007, but this time it was different - we weren't able to reopen." Mr Bunn, who now runs the nearby Ye Olde Anchor Inn, believes improved flood defences installed over the past decade mean the scenes of 2007 will not be witnessed again. "Hopefully, the horrendous flooding of this town will be a thing of the past." BBC reporter Catherine Mackie Anyone who experienced the great flood of July 2007 has a story to tell. I was soaked to the skin, shivering with cold and stranded in a pub car park in Herefordshire. Inside the pub there was a small crowd of people who'd abandoned their cars on the roads-turned-rivers, resigned to spending an uncomfortable night with strangers. Our satellite truck had died after the last live broadcast so I bunked down with the crew Andy and Brian in a caravan kindly donated by the landlady. The rain continued to hammer down on the roof with the noise occasionally drowned out by Brian's snoring. 'People were scared for their lives' Floods had been a fairly frequent occurrence in the south-west Midlands, with fire stations in Evesham, Hereford and Worcester equipped with boats to cope with water rescues. But nothing could prepare crews for the rain of July 2007. Firefighter Dave Hunt was on duty when his team received the call that Sedgeberrow, near Evesham, was flooding. "There was a lot of rain so we were having a number of calls and then the call came in to Sedgeberrow," he said. Two boats were sent to the village from Worcester fire station. Crews arrived to discover two men on the roof of a Ford Transit van. "They were clinging on to the roof and the van was submerged," recalls Mr Hunt. "We launched the boats and the priority was to save them and bring them back to land." Some rescues proved tricky, with crews unable to see house numbers or road names and, with lives on the line, decisions had to be made to prioritise those at greatest risk. "We made several rescues of people and pets, there were about 90 flooded homes and we made rescues from 30 of the houses," added Mr Hunt. "The most memorable rescue which we carried out was in liaison with the RAF helicopter of a pregnant lady and her toddler. They were trapped in floodwater. "The RAF Sea King lowered and winched down. The toddler was rescued on a board. The winchman entered the bedroom and harnessed the pregnant lady and they both got winched up into the helicopter." He described the floods as on a scale never seen before. "People were scared for their lives [and] I would say a number of them were in danger of losing their lives," said Mr Hunt. "We had never dealt with anything like it. That's the worst I've ever seen."

2007 की गर्मी रिकॉर्ड पर सबसे अधिक आर्द्र थी। मई से जुलाई तक इंग्लैंड और वेल्स में 414 मिमी बारिश हुई-1766 में रिकॉर्ड शुरू होने के बाद से किसी भी अवधि की तुलना में अधिक। यॉर्कशायर और मिडलैंड्स में, हजारों लोगों को बचाया गया, पूरे शहर काट दिए गए और परिवार अपनी संपत्तियों से भागने के लिए मजबूर हो गए।


Francis Benali's completes 1,000-mile stadium challenge

Summary: A former professional footballer has completed a three week 1,000-mile (1,600km) challenge running to all 20 Premier League grounds.

Francis Benali, who made more than 300 appearances for Southampton Football Club, embarked on the run to raise money for Cancer Research UK. He has raised more than £100k for the charity. Mr Benali started at St James' Park in Newcastle and finished at Southampton's St Mary's Stadium. Arriving during Saints' game against Newcastle United he ran a lap of the pitch at half-time to a standing ovation from supporters.

एक पूर्व पेशेवर फुटबॉलर ने सभी 20 प्रीमियर लीग मैदानों में तीन सप्ताह की 1,000 मील (1,600 किमी) की चुनौती पूरी की है।


Zimbabwe: Did Robert Mugabe finally go too far?

Summary: Zimbabwe's military says its actions do not amount to a takeover. It still refers to Robert Mugabe as the commander-in-chief of the country's defence forces. But practically speaking, Mr Mugabe is not in charge if his forces can step in to usurp his authority.

By Tomi OladipoBBC Monitoring Africa security correspondent This is not a coup d'état in name, but it appears to be in action. The military takeover of the national broadcaster, the presence of troops on the streets and major access points, and even forced entry into the presidential palace are traits of a military takeover - at least as we have seen them in Africa. One thing that is lacking is that the constitution has not been suspended. The cementing of democracy across Africa has led to a general regional and continent-wide aversion to violent takeovers of government. Even in the past, coup-stagers often promised a quick handover to civilian government through elections or a negotiated transition. So far in Zimbabwe, the military is not showing any intention of assuming a governing role. However, it has someone it would prefer to do that. Emmerson Mnangagwa, the recently sacked vice-president, is held in high regard in Zimbabwean military circles. He was involved in the struggle for independence, and in 1980 created the Zimbabwe National Army by fusing the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (Zipra) and Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (Zanla) with the remnants of the former Rhodesian security forces. He was seen as the natural successor for the top office. President Mugabe sacked Mr Mnangagwa last week at the prompting of the First Lady Grace Mugabe, who has political aspirations and has publicly opposed the former vice president, but does not have support within a military where the liberation legacy is held in high esteem. The top military officials were part of the liberation struggle, like their comrade and president Mr Mugabe, so they have supported his government over the years because he has served their interests. They did not act this way in 2014, when Mr Mugabe sacked his previous Vice President Joice Mujuru, a former independence fighter, in a similar power struggle. This time though, there is a sense the president might have gone too far. Earlier this week, the commander of Zimbabwe's Defence Forces, General Constantino Chiwenga, warned the Zanu-PF governing party to stop the purge against independence war veterans. Following his dismissal and escape to South Africa, Mr Mnangagwa promised to return to regain control of the ruling party from the Mugabes. This suggested his confidence in the support he had from the military. So the next step would be to negotiate his return ahead of the party congress in December, where he could be affirmed as the president's successor. At worst, the military will force Mr Mugabe to resign - but they will not want to humiliate him further because of the history they share. They will also extend the courtesy to Grace Mugabe, in spite of her recent actions. Painful memories Prior suggestions that the armed forces were divided have not been revealed so far this week. The rise of an opposing faction would probably be bloody, and not something Zimbabweans would like to see, regardless of how tough life has been in recent years. The end of the Mugabe era would be a relief to many, but Mr Mnangagwa is not necessarily popular in all parts of the country. Under his tenure as security minister in the early 1980s, government forces crushed a rebellion in the Midlands and Matebeleland province, and allegedly killed thousands of civilians. There is still bitter resentment among people from the affected regions.

जिम्बाब्वे की सेना का कहना है कि उसकी कार्रवाई अधिग्रहण के बराबर नहीं है। यह अभी भी रॉबर्ट मुगाबे को देश के रक्षा बलों के कमांडर-इन-चीफ के रूप में संदर्भित करता है। लेकिन व्यावहारिक रूप से, श्री मुगाबे प्रभारी नहीं हैं यदि उनकी सेना उनके अधिकार को हड़पने के लिए कदम उठा सकती है।


Inside the secret and lucrative world of 'the super tutor'

Summary: Education services bring in £17.5bn a year to the UK economy, but what is driving the demand for a British education and why are some parents willing to spend thousands of pounds to secure a "super tutor" for their child?

By Katie HopeBusiness reporter, BBC News "It was on the plane over I realised I'd made a mistake," a 25-year-old private tutor tells me. He was flying to New York to spend the summer helping to prepare a 12-year-old boy for the Common Entrance exam - a test taken by children applying to private secondary schools. The boy's mother had insisted he sat next to the boy so he could spend the flight time teaching him. He did an hour and then given they were spending the next three weeks together, decided to take a nap. The next thing he knew, he was being woken up by the mother standing over him, shouting "You think this is some kind of holiday?". Given the high fees charged by such tutors and the intense competition for places at top British schools it's perhaps not surprising that tensions can sometimes run high. "In an already privileged world, tutoring is an extra level of pushing," he says. The Londoner uses the job's flexibility to fund his real passion of film production and acting. He is unwilling to be named in this article in case it jeopardises future jobs. Yet he says the money easily makes up for the occasional difficulties. He charges anywhere from £40 to £90 an hour in the UK, although the agencies he is hired through take a 25% to 50% cut of this. When he takes an overseas job, the fees are much higher to compensate for the fact that he can't do any other work. Typically he earns between £800 and £1,500 a week. In three years as a tutor he's worked in India, Indonesia and Costa Rica, as well as the US. Hiring an English tutor is increasingly common in many countries, particularly for those who want their children to go to an overseas private secondary school, he says. The fact that he "sounds a bit posh" and went to a top London school are "valuable trading cards" in an international industry which is "a lot about image as well as actual background," he says. This kind of tutoring is one of the British education services that makes a valuable contribution to the UK economy. Collectively, education exports were worth a whopping £17.5bn in 2011, the most recent figure available. This includes education products and services, income from international students in higher education as well as schools and English language lessons. Those working in the industry suggest the value is likely to have grown since then. Mark Maclaine, who co-founded the agency, Tutorfair, in 2012 after over a decade of tutoring, says overseas demand is enormous and growing. His overseas customers are mostly from Asia, the Middle East, eastern Europe and Russia. Dubbed "a super tutor" due to his students' success rate, he charges fees on a sliding scale, anywhere from £150 an hour up to a staggering £1,000. At the upper end of the scale, he says it's typically consultancy. A short time to teach someone how to study and prepare for an exam independently as opposed to a continuing arrangement. Toxic environment Word of mouth recommendations have seen him hired by US actors and actresses and he's taught in a variety of exotic locations from a yacht sailing around the Caribbean to private islands in luxury holiday resorts. He admits that the high pressure can create a toxic environment, and says experience has taught him to interview a family before he commits to a job. We're speaking over the phone while he's in Bali, where he has tagged a holiday onto the end of a tutoring job. "The British private education system is seen as one of the best in the world. Royal families, rulers of countries are very very keen that their kids get some form of education in Britain," he says. The demand is high enough that two to three times a year Mr Maclaine will get an "emergency call" from a family desperate for his immediate services. Normally these calls come when a child has failed a practice exam for a UK school and "everyone panics". Often he'll offer to tutor by Skype, but occasionally when he's offered a "stupid amount of money" he'll agree to fly out. "I'm a human being. I've got a mortgage to pay". To help address the balance, Tutorfair says that for every child whose parents pay for its service it gives tutoring to another boy or girl whose mother and father, or other guardian, cannot afford to pay. It's not just tutoring agencies cashing in on the foreign demand for a British education. Many private schools have opened branches overseas: Harrow has schools in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Bangkok; while Dulwich College and Wellington College both have overseas franchises in China. Such extensions create a handy extra revenue stream for private schools as the domestic market slows. But Charles Bonas, founder of Bonas MacFarlane, which offers tuition and also advises on choices of schools from nursery to university, says many families still prefer to send their children to school in the UK. He says partly it's because it's a way for wealthy families with drivers and nannies to help their offspring become more independent. But he says the main reasons that parents choose the UK is because English is spoken as a first language, and the education is deemed well-rounded - teaching children how to think critically and take risks. Global Trade More from the BBC's series taking an international perspective on trade: How shops are coping with a weaker pound The apples that need shading from the sun How the 'better burger' is taking over the world What it takes to get Beyonce on a world tour The country losing out in the breakfast juice battle Why a $1.6bn car plant has been left to decay Read more global trade series here. Often parents only want the top name schools, he says recalling the time two years ago when the parents of a five-year-old girl said they wanted her to go to Eton next term. "They didn't take no as an immediate answer," he says. But this is where the firm uses its consultation skills, a process costing from £3,000 to £12,000 with a relationship that can last years. "I took on a parent last year whose children weren't even born yet. They're going to need a nursery, pre-prep, prep and a senior school," he explains. Whether or not these arrangements are simply perpetuating inequality, Mr Bonas argues that they are of long-term benefit to the UK, and not just because of the economic boost. "These children have often got a family business to take over and will be the movers and shakers in their world. "If they have an affinity for Britain then that can only be a good thing," he says.

शिक्षा सेवाएँ ब्रिटेन की अर्थव्यवस्था में प्रति वर्ष £ 17.5bn लाती हैं, लेकिन ब्रिटिश शिक्षा की मांग को क्या चला रहा है और कुछ माता-पिता अपने बच्चे के लिए "सुपर ट्यूटर" प्राप्त करने के लिए हजारों पाउंड खर्च करने के लिए क्यों तैयार हैं?


Man in court charged with Anthony McGladrigan murder in Cuminestown

Summary: A 20-year-old man has appeared in court charged with murder following the death of a 51-year-old man in Aberdeenshire.

Anthony McGladrigan died on Wednesday after an incident in Cuminestown. Liam Hay, of Aberdeen, appeared at Peterhead Sheriff Court. He made no plea and was remanded in custody. Relatives of Mr McGladrigan earlier said: "Tony was loved, brave and an amazing son, husband, father, brother and exceptional friend. He will be missed every day."

एबरडीनशायर में एक 51 वर्षीय व्यक्ति की मौत के बाद हत्या के आरोप में एक 20 वर्षीय व्यक्ति अदालत में पेश हुआ है।


Early death rate reveals 'postcode lottery'

Summary: BBC research shows people living in the poorest parts of the UK are more likely to die prematurely. But what is it like for people in parts of Manchester, which has one of the highest early mortality rates in the country?

The mortality rate from avoidable causes is more than three times higher in some of the most deprived parts of the country than the most affluent. Manchester's avoidable death rate is 388 per 100,000 - a situation the Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has described as "scandalous". Tommy Johnson lives in the inner city suburb of Gorton, a mainly residential area just over a mile from Manchester City's Etihad Stadium and one of the city's most deprived districts. Mr Johnson said the figures showed there was a health "postcode lottery" in the country. The 64-year-old said some of his friends had "died early", adding: "I think if they had lived in a richer area down south it would have been different." Avoidable deaths are counted as people who die under 75 from heart disease, some cancers, respiratory conditions and type 2 diabetes. Mr Johnson's friend Jim Wilson, 68, said he was "not surprised by the high death rates in Manchester". He added: "You don't need a survey to tell you that if you are poor you will not live as long. "The rich are getting richer and the poor are dying." The analysis found a correlation between deprivation and the number of people dying prematurely. In England, Chiltern, South Oxfordshire, South Cambridgeshire and Hart in Hampshire had the lowest avoidable death rates. Places with the highest rates include Manchester, Blackpool, Middlesbrough, Hull and Liverpool. Donna Buckley, 36, said she believed the poor health in the area was caused by poor diet. "I think lifestyle has a lot to do with death rates, " she said. "I believe the food we eat affects us. That is why I am a vegan. "People eat a lot of junk food around here and that can cause cancer and heart problems." Margaret Connors, 80, has lived in the area for 50 years. "My husband died a few tears ago of lung cancer but he was a very heavy smoker," she said. "Our quality of life in Gorton is pretty good. The health service is good round here. "I came down from Greenock in Scotland 50 years ago. I think a a lot of it is due to lifestyle. "I eat well and don't drink. I smoke but I am doing ok to reach 80." The Department of Health and Social Care (DoH) said more than £16bn was being invested in local government services to tackle public health issues in addition to free NHS health checks and screening programmes. It also offers a free flu vaccination programme, a national diabetes prevention programme, a childhood obesity plan and a tobacco control plan. A DoH spokesman said cancer survival was at a record high, with smoking rates at an all-time low. She added: "Generally, people are living longer."

बीबीसी के शोध से पता चलता है कि ब्रिटेन के सबसे गरीब हिस्सों में रहने वाले लोगों की समय से पहले मौत होने की संभावना अधिक है। लेकिन मैनचेस्टर के कुछ हिस्सों में लोगों के लिए यह कैसा है, जो देश में सबसे अधिक प्रारंभिक मृत्यु दर वाले शहरों में से एक है?


Cannabis factory worth £250,000 found in Salisbury

Summary: A cannabis factory with plants worth about £250,000 has been uncovered in Salisbury.

Wiltshire Police raided a house in Old Blandford Road on Wednesday and found 786 plants, along with hydroponics equipment. Hoa Thi Hoang, 21, from Vietnam was arrested and charged with the production of cannabis plants. He has been remanded in custody and will appear before Salisbury Magistrates' Court at a later date.

सैलिसबरी में लगभग 250,000 पाउंड मूल्य के पौधों के साथ एक भांग कारखाने का पता चला है।


Is the HS2 rail project in trouble?

Summary: All may not be rosy with the HS2 programme.

By Tom EspinerBusiness reporter, BBC News There have been ongoing questions raised about whether the project can be delivered on time and within budget. And the recently-appointed HS2 chairman Sir Terry Morgan resigned from his post on Wednesday, after predicting that he would be asked to go by the Department for Transport. Why is HS2 being built? Thousands of rail commuters in the UK have to endure train services that are often subject to delays and cancellations. As well as having to contend with strikes, in the early part of this summer timetabling chaos caused severe disruption. Even Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has admitted that parts of the UK rail system are stretched to breaking point. "The system is bursting at the seams… The reality is, the system is full," he told the BBC's Today programme, adding that on certain lines "if the slightest thing goes wrong, that can disrupt the network quite significantly". That is why, he says, the UK needs high-speed rail links, such as the government's flagship HS2 programme, to take the pressure off commuter services and leave more room for freight. Why did the HS2 chair quit? Earlier this week, Sir Terry told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he expected to be sacked due to delays and cost overruns on another major rail project he heads, Crossrail. "My expectation is that I will be asked to resign [from both projects]," he presciently said. But Sir Terry also hinted at HS2 problems. "The challenge, of course, is the scope, the time, and the cost [of HS2] have already been set, and the engineers are now busy trying to assess just how they will build the work that's needed to construct it. There is a challenge inside the project," he said. In a nutshell, HS2 has been set a budget of £55.7bn to deliver rail lines from London to Birmingham and on to Manchester and Leeds, with the first phase to open by December 2026. Now engineers are trying to work out how they can do it. How much trouble is the project in? Some experts say there is absolutely no doubt that HS2 will cost substantially more than £55.7bn, including consultant Michael Byng, who wrote Network Rail's guidelines on how to estimate costs. Mr Byng estimates that the cost for just the first phase of the project, from London to Birmingham, will be just under £56bn, and that the whole project could cost double that. "It's very difficult to see how you maintain a positive, attractive cost-benefit analysis, prepared in 2015 before the project received royal assent, when the costs have probably doubled. That cost benefit-analysis will probably have disappeared," he told the Today programme. In other words, if the cost doubles, will the project be worth it? Rail expert and long-term HS2 critic Lord Berkeley also said HS2 will be substantially more costly. "I think there is a lot of bad news to come from the [HS2] numbers. The work that we've done indicates that the cost will be about double," he told the Today programme. "I think that's really serious. When you get into a figure that's probably £100bn for a high-speed line, that's an awful lot of money." What does the government say? Chris Grayling, however, was adamant that the project would not cost more than £55.7bn. "I'm very clear on HS2 - it's got a budget, it's got to live with that budget. The budget is [about] £55.5bn at 2014 prices, that's all there's going to be. "The project has got to work within that. It's going through the early stages of getting its budget in shape at the moment, working with contractors to make sure it's got the right scope, the risk that's carried between the public sector and the contractors is balanced in an appropriate way, but there's a budget and it's got to stick to that." Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Grayling also called into question Mr Byng's judgement. "Michael Byng has been saying a lot of things. He's not somebody who is entirely well respected within his part of the industry, and I would question his judgement on this." However, Lord Berkeley described Mr Byng as "one of the best and most respected cost-engineers in the country. I absolutely believe him." Has work started on HS2? Civil engineering work on HS2 has been pushed back to a June 2019 start date, a delay of seven months, according to reports. However, Chris Grayling said some work had started. "It's happening now. I've been to the start of works ceremony in Birmingham. The work is taking place in and around Euston, in and around Birmingham station at the HS2 station there. The work is happening, it currently employs 6,000 people." A Department for Transport spokeswoman insisted that phase one of HS2 would be completed by December 2026. The new chairman of HS2 is chartered engineer Allan Cook. Will he be able to keep HS2 on time and on budget? Time will tell.

सभी एच. एस. 2 कार्यक्रम के साथ गुलाबी नहीं हो सकते हैं।


Stoke-on-Trent stabbing murder victim named

Summary: A man who died after being found collapsed in Stoke-on-Trent with stab wounds to his leg has been named.

Anas Chergat, 26, was pronounced dead at the scene in Josiah Wedgwood Street, Etruria, at 02:40 BST on Friday. A murder investigation has begun but the circumstances of his death are not yet clear, police said. Mr Chergat's family said: "We are devastated by the loss of Anas. We loved him very much and he will be missed greatly by all of his family." They appealed for anyone with information about his death to contact police. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone.

पैर में चाकू के घावों के साथ स्टोक-ऑन-ट्रेंट में गिरने से मरने वाले एक व्यक्ति का नाम लिया गया है।


Ten industrial sites that shaped England used in history campaign

Summary: Ten industrial sites that helped shaped England have been chosen for a campaign to bring the country's history to life.

The Piece Hall in Halifax, Cromford Mills in Derbyshire, Castlefield Canal Basin in Manchester and the Lloyd's building in London made the list. Tristram Hunt, director of the V&A Museum, selected the places from more than 700 nominations from the public. It is part of Historic England's A History of England in 100 Places campaign. Cromford Mills near Matlock is home to the first water-powered cotton spinning mill

इंग्लैंड को आकार देने में मदद करने वाले दस औद्योगिक स्थलों को देश के इतिहास को जीवंत करने के अभियान के लिए चुना गया है।


Can kindness movements make a difference?

Summary: Picking up litter. Buying someone in need a coffee. Or just doling out free hugs. There's a growing movement of people doing nice things for strangers, but do they make for a kinder society?

By Sam JudahBBC News Magazine Each week, Elisa Ng trawls the streets of Singapore picking up rubbish discarded by her fellow citizens. She is not searching for treasure hidden in the litter. Her only goal is to leave the city a little cleaner than before. "I want to encourage other people to pick up a piece of litter every day," she says. Recently, she chased an errant lorry driver who had thrown a plastic bag from his window. "He looked quite apprehensive and seemed apologetic," she says. Thankless though the task seems, Ng is just one of many residents of the city who have been inspired by the Singapore Kindness Movement, a government-funded body which aims to promote helpful and courteous behaviour amongst its people. "It definitely makes a difference," says William Wan, the leader of the movement. "We have changed the way that certain social norms are accepted. People are starting to give up their seats on buses now, which they never used to do." A similar organisation, the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, was founded in Denver, Colorado, in response to the city's "Summer of Violence" in 1993, when dozens of people were killed in gang-related shootings, including several children. One victim of stray gunfire was just 10 months old. The organisation borrowed the writer Ann Herbert's call for people to "practice random acts of kindness, and senseless acts of beauty". The phrase has since been popularised on doormats and bumper stickers across the US and encourages Americans to surprise one another with good deeds. Kelsey Gryniewicz, a director at the foundation, advocates activities such as anonymously leaving hampers of food on neighbours' doorsteps and paying for the person queuing behind you at a coffee shop. "It's not just about single acts, though," she says. "It's about changing your mentality from day to day." The World Kindness Movement represents the work of organisations from 23 different countries. "It has gone way past the level of community endeavour," says its secretary general Michael Lloyd-White. But measuring the impact of these groups is not easy. Each year, the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) publishes a World Giving Index, which attempts to track certain types of giving behaviour in 146 countries across the globe. The data is extracted from an annual poll conducted by research firm Gallup and ranks countries according to the proportion of people who have volunteered, helped strangers at random, or donated money to charity in a typical month. In first position last year was Australia, where a third of the population volunteers each month and two-thirds claim to have helped a stranger and donated money to charity. Lisa Grinham, from CAF's Australian branch, says that the rise is due to the flooding that hit Queensland and Victoria the year before, pointing out that figures tend to rise in times of national hardship. Globally, however, the position is very different. "The trend that has been revealed is a disturbing one," says Dr John Law, the chief executive of the Charities Aid Foundation. The number of acts of kindness and charity dropped by hundreds of millions last year due to the global recession, he says. Singapore dropped from 91st to 114th place in the 2012 World Giving Index. The country's own Graciousness Index also indicated that fewer people had experienced "gracious acts" last year. William Wan of the Singapore Kindness Movement blames the decline on "bread-and-butter issues" such as the rising cost of housing and transport. In the US, which dropped from first to fifth place in the global index last year, a team of academics is working on a programme of compassion education in schools to try to reverse the decline. Richard J Davidson from the Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison thinks that the level of kindness in society can be improved if children are taught to be more empathetic from an early age. "Compassion should be regarded as a skill that can be cultivated through training," he says. The kindness curriculum is currently being taught in 10 schools across Wisconsin. The project is still at the research stage, but "the early signs are promising", he says. Not everybody is convinced that focussing on compassion in this way is helpful, however. "We have made altruism a sacred object, so we've been blinded to its deleterious effects," says Barbara Oakley from the University of Oakland, Michigan. In a new book called Pathological Altruism, she argues against what she sees as a cultural obsession with the notion of kindness. "There's a misguided view that empathy is a universal solvent. Helping others is often about your own narcissism. What you think people need is often not actually what they need." Kelsey Gryniewicz doesn't think that the American kindness movement is guilty of that charge, arguing that there are tangible, practical benefits to the activities they recommend. "It doesn't have to be about cradling people in a bubble of kindness," she says. In Singapore, William Wan takes a more reflective view. "We must be realistic. We mustn't be naive. Kindness movements can't solve all our problems, but if they can solve some of our problems, why not use them?" There are more volunteering stories in the BBC News series Making Time Do you carry out small acts of kindness for strangers, or for you local area? Tell us on Facebook or Twitter using #guerillakindness

कूड़ा उठाना। किसी जरूरतमंद से कॉफी खरीदना। या सिर्फ मुफ्त में गले लगाना। अजनबियों के लिए अच्छी चीजें करने वाले लोगों का आंदोलन बढ़ रहा है, लेकिन क्या वे एक दयालु समाज बनाते हैं?


The secret history of black Santas

Summary: America's biggest shopping mall grabbed headlines this week by hiring its first African-American Father Christmas. But black Santas have been around for a lot longer than you might think - and even played a role in the civil rights struggles of the 1960s.

By Brian WheelerBBC News, Washington DC "Everything that Santa represents has to be you. That's my honest belief. You can't have some grumpy old guy who doesn't love kids sitting there representing somebody who is joyful, somebody who is loving." Kenny Green is a man who takes his job seriously. He has been playing Santa Claus for the past five years and although the mall where he works, in a suburb of Washington DC, has hosted a black Santa for as long as anyone can remember, he says they are still "few and far between" in the rest of America. African-American families come from as far afield as Delaware, 80 miles away, to visit his grotto, at the Shops at Iverson mall. Which is why, he says, it was "huge" that the Mall of America - the country's biggest indoor shopping complex - decided to hire a black Santa for the first time this year. The Minnesota shopping centre hired Larry Jefferson at a Santa convention in Missouri, where among more than 1,000 attendees he was the only African-American. He only appeared at the Mall of America for one weekend but it was still enough to spark racist abuse on message boards. In the overheated post-election atmosphere, Santa Claus is seen by some as another cherished cultural institution under attack by the forces of political correctness. The traditional image of Santa, as a jolly, rotund, and white, character is deeply embedded in American culture. "Going to a department store, sitting on Santa's lap, all of that, is very central to a certain kind of post-war, white middle-class identity," says Prof Victoria Wolcott, a history professor at the University of Buffalo, who writes about segregation. "To challenge that, by having a Santa Claus of colour, disturbs people." It appears to have been disturbing people for more than a century, judging from local newspaper reports about "negro Santas", which tend to veer from an amused "whatever next" tone to examples of flat-out racism. Santa's origin story "A negro Santa Claus went down a chimney head first and landed on the fire," A 1901 news report, from Bloomfield, New Jersey, read. "The surprised occupants of the room flogged him." Other reports from the time tell of Christmas parties enlivened by "black-face" Santas, singing "negro melodies". In 1915, a gushing account of President Wilson's honeymoon at a Virginia resort included a description of a festive party "presided over by a dusky Santa Claus", with a large "gaily decorated" Christmas tree. "Before [the tree] disported 15 negroes, whose antics and musical efforts kept the President and everybody else almost convulsed with laughter." Four years later, the Pittsburgh Daily Post carried a report about the "the first negro Santa ever put on the streets of any city". He had been hired by the Volunteers of America in response to "appeals from poor coloured children", the newspaper added. But the real breakthrough for black Santas came in 1936, when tap-dancing legend Bill "Bojangles" Robinson became Harlem's "first negro Santa Claus" at an annual Christmas Eve party for underprivileged children. In previous years, the children had been visited by a "Nordic Santa" from downtown New York, reported a local newspaper. In 1943, one of Harlem's biggest department stores, Blumstein's, hired its first black Santa Claus. It was followed, in 1946, by a store in Chicago. As white people moved out to the suburbs, and began shopping at the giant new malls that were being built there, it made economic sense for downtown department store owners to tailor the Christmas shopping experience to their now mainly black customers. By the 1960s, Santa had been recruited by the civil rights movement, which was starting to use economic boycotts as a weapon in the fight for racial equality. In 1969, Santa Claus was described as "one of the established symbols of racism" by a civil rights leader, in a dispute with Shillittoes, a Cincinnati department store, that refused to hire a black Father Christmas. The store owner's Fred Lazarus III said: "This has nothing to do with equality of employment. It just doesn't fit the symbol as kids have known it." But the Rev Otis Moss Jr, a regional director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, hit back, saying: "If a department store cannot conceive of a black man as Santa Claus for 30 days, it most assuredly cannot conceive of his being president or vice president for 365 days." The store caved in and hired a black Santa the following year, something that began happening with increasing frequency across the country in the early 1970s, including at Macy's flagship New York store. One department store in Brooklyn even set up rival black-and-white Santas, separated by a low partition, to enable people to make their choice. At the Iverson mall, Kenny Green is fully suited up and in character, dispensing Christmas cheer to his young fans. Shameka Pettus, whose two youngest children, Christopher and Jonathan, can hardly contain their excitement at meeting their Yuletide idol, says: "When I was a kid we only had white Santas so this is pretty cool to see a black Santa in the mall for the kids." But she adds: "I don't think the colour matters. Santa is Santa." Green says even some African-American people have difficulty with a black Santa, recalling some "shocking" comments made by one woman last year, who told one of his elves Santa should be white. But he adds: "When it comes to the spirit of Christmas and what the spirit of Santa is all about, it's not about race, it's not about white or black, it's about the love you have and the spirit you represent." He says the Mall of America's black Santa will "open a lot of eyes" and could lead to an "influx" of Santas from all different ethnic backgrounds, not just African American. "I would definitely take my children to go see an Hispanic Santa. I would definitely take my children to go see an Asian Santa," he says. "Because that's letting them know that Santa is a representation of all of us. That's who we should be. We all should be Santas. We all should have Santa in our heart and in our spirit." Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.

अमेरिका के सबसे बड़े शॉपिंग मॉल ने इस सप्ताह अपने पहले अफ्रीकी-अमेरिकी फादर क्रिसमस को काम पर रखकर सुर्खियां बटोरी। लेकिन काले सांता बहुत लंबे समय से आसपास हैं जितना आप सोच सकते हैं-और यहां तक कि 1960 के दशक के नागरिक अधिकार संघर्षों में भी भूमिका निभाई।


Former MP Julia Goldsworthy appointed special adviser

Summary: Former Liberal Democrat MP Julia Goldsworthy has been appointed special adviser to Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander.

Ms Goldsworthy, 31, lost the Camborne and Redruth seat in Cornwall by only 66 votes in the general election. The post will be unpaid initially because she received more than £30,000 in a resettlement grant after losing her seat. Special advisers are civil servants who give political advice to ministers. Ms Goldsworthy, who lost her seat to Conservative George Eustice in May, studied history at Cambridge University and did post-graduate work in economics. She was shadow chief secretary to the Treasury from 2006 to 2007 when she became shadow secretary of state for communities and local government.

पूर्व लिबरल डेमोक्रेट सांसद जूलिया गोल्डस्वर्थी को ट्रेजरी के मुख्य सचिव डैनी अलेक्जेंडर का विशेष सलाहकार नियुक्त किया गया है।


Are 'cryonic technicians' the key to immortality?

Summary: Technology is changing the way we work and the jobs we do. Will artificial intelligence and robots relieve us of humdrum tasks, making our working lives easier, or will they take our jobs away altogether? As part of our Future of Work series, we look at the cryonics technicians - who are trying to help their clients cheat death.

By Eleanor LawrieBusiness reporter, BBC News Are you open minded about the future? Do you have a medical background and can you complete tasks under time pressure? Are you comfortable working in the presence of a dead body? This is not the job description for a Victorian grave snatcher. Instead, it's the ideal attributes of a cryonics technician; someone who preserves the bodies of the recently deceased in the hope they will one day be revived. Advocates describe it as an "ambulance to the future". They say that as medical science develops, these technicians could become a common sight in our hospitals, purporting to offer believers a second chance at life. However, most highly doubt it will work. Buying time Cryonics seeks to freeze someone after they have legally died in order to keep their body and mind as undamaged as possible. This aims to buy the patient time until future medical science can bring them back to life, and cure them of whatever it is they died from. As soon as the patient dies, the clock is ticking to start the procedure. The heart has stopped pumping and the brain is no longer receiving oxygen, meaning within minutes it will lose the ability to make new memories, and soon after that the cells will begin to die. This means the technician must get to work immediately after the individual is declared legally dead, cooling their body in an ice bath in order to slow down the process of degeneration. Future of Work BBC News is looking at how technology is changing the way we work, and how it is creating new job opportunities. After this blood is drained from the body and replaced with cryoprotectant agents - similar to antifreeze - in an attempt to stop ice crystals forming in the blood cells. The body is then placed in a storage tank and brought down to the temperature of liquid nitrogen (-196C) in an attempt to preserve the organs and tissue. Necessary skills While cryonics has been practised since the 1970s, only the US and Russia actually have small storage facilities. In the US state of Michigan, the Cryonics Institute has about 2,000 living people signed up, and 165 patients who have already gone through the process. Dennis Kowalski is the institute's president and performs some of the cryonic procedures. By day, he is a paramedic. "The training to become a paramedic is perfect to become a standby in cryonics," he says. "You also need someone with a funeral director's licence (because you are still legally handling dead bodies), experience running a perfusion pump, and basic surgical skills." Future role The Cryonics Institute is a co-operative with just three full-time members of staff, but Mr Kowalski thinks this will grow as medical science evolves. So far just 5,000 people around the globe have signed up but the numbers are growing so funeral homes may start to offer this as an option, he says. "Artificial intelligence, genetic modification, stem cell engineering - all these fields are vindicating what we are doing, which is giving people the greatest opportunity possible." One of the 5,000 is Dr Anders Sandberg, a senior research fellow at Oxford University's Future of Humanity Institute. He is on the board of the Brain Preservation Foundation and has elected to have only his head preserved after death, even though he estimates a success rate of just 3%. Like Mr Kowalski, he argues the skills needed to become a cryonics technician are already in use in many medical professions. "Right now cryonics feels a little too cold or impersonal and it relies on the admission that it is uncertain, but I do think it will grow. "In the future, wouldn't having a cryogenicist at the hospital make sense? When you do heart or brain surgery you lower the body temperature to buy more time and I imagine that over time we will start doing more low temperature surgery. "This is a job that you might want to do if you started out as a nurse or a perfusion specialist. It would not be a big leap from a technical standpoint, only from a social one, as it's using arguments from within medicine. "There's a lot of resistance to overcome but from a practical perspective it makes sense and might save us from a lot of wasteful medicine." Cryonics and cryogenics Although they sound similar, cryonics and cryogenics are viewed very differently by the scientific community. Cryonics specifically relates to the preservation of the human body after death. Most supporters of the process admit they do not know if or when the technology will exist to revive people, or whether the techniques used to prepare the body for storage will have worked. Cryogenics, on the other hand, has many applications in today's society. It involves the freezing of matter at temperatures of -150C or lower. In medicine, this includes the freezing of embryos, eggs, sperm, skin, and tissue in order to preserve them for future use. Clive Coen, professor of neuroscience at King's College, London, suggests applying validated cryogenic techniques to the brain or whole body is doomed to failure. That's because the application of antifreeze during the preservation process fails to reach all of the brain, and it would be impossible to defrost each part of the body at the same time, he says "Advocates of cryonics are naive in comparing their wishful thinking with the successes achieved in storing loosely packed cells - such as sperm - at low temperatures. "And they shouldn't forget that any resuscitation process that isn't instantaneous will merely set the process of decay running again." But Prof Coen says cryogenics is an exciting field ripe for expansion. Although the brain is far too complex, cryogenicists are currently working on freezing other organs. This could revolutionise the process of transplantation, which would no longer have to take place immediately. "People are tremendously hard at work in this field trying to store organs such as the kidney, and even the heart on a long term basis. That would be a tremendous boon to our health and wellbeing," Prof Coen says. "But a whole body? Forget it." Illustration by Karen Charmaine Chanakira

प्रौद्योगिकी हमारे काम करने के तरीके और हमारे काम करने के तरीके को बदल रही है। क्या कृत्रिम बुद्धिमत्ता और रोबोट हमें सुस्त कार्यों से राहत देंगे, हमारे कामकाजी जीवन को आसान बना देंगे, या वे हमारी नौकरियों को पूरी तरह से छीन लेंगे? हमारी फ्यूचर ऑफ वर्क श्रृंखला के हिस्से के रूप में, हम क्रायोनिक्स तकनीशियनों को देखते हैं-जो अपने ग्राहकों को मौत को धोखा देने में मदद करने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं।


Two men charged after 'brothel' raids in Derby

Summary: Two men have been charged with human trafficking and running a brothel following a series of police raids.

Officers found five women in houses on Uttoxeter New Road and Violet Street in Derby. Daniel Zemencsik, 27, of Uttoxeter New Road, and Geza Horvath, 32, of Station Court, Burton, both appeared at Derby Magistrates' Court. Mr Zemencsik and Mr Horvath were remanded into custody to attend Derby Crown Court on 17 May.

पुलिस के छापों की एक श्रृंखला के बाद दो लोगों पर मानव तस्करी और एक वेश्यालय चलाने का आरोप लगाया गया है।


Family of "Disappeared" Gerry Evans hope for closure

Summary: The family of Gerry Evans are still waiting for formal identification after human remains were found in County Louth. The Crossmaglen man was last seen in March 1979. BBC reporter Barbara Collins was with the family as events unfolded at the site in Carrickrobin.

The light was fading when John Hill from the Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains gave the nod that the family and friends of Gerry Evans could go down the narrow, mucky lane to the site where they had found his remains. Just a few hours before, they had been given the news they had been waiting for. It was obvious from their faces that they were struggling to take it all in. Two weeks ago, the commission had announced they were winding down the search at Carrickrobin after 16 months of painstaking excavation. Hope They had unearthed an area the size of four football fields but had found nothing. The family were devastated. Gerry Evans' brother Noel said they were losing hope that he had ever be found. Time was passing, memories were fading and the landscape was changing, but a renewed appeal for information gave the commission what they needed to complete their task. As we walked down the lane, treading carefully to avoid the pools of mucky water and stones, we saw the huge machines they had used to drain the bog and rakes and shovels lying on the ground. Further down stood a small temporary building and the cars belonging to the team who'd been working at the remote site, day after day, in all weathers. They stood now, in their distinctive orange overalls, behind a hearse containing a small coffin. Beside them, the parish priest, ready to say prayers over the remains. Stoic Mary Evans walked over and stood silently, stoically. Her face was composed, but her hands were shaking. She had waited for this moment for more than three decades. She had never locked her back door in all that time, hoping that one day Gerry would walk through it. Deep down, she knew he was dead, but she never lost hope that one day she would at least have a grave to visit. After the priest blessed the coffin with holy water, she turned to shake hands with hands with the people from the Commission who had found her son at last. Then she got into one of the waiting cars, ready to follow the hearse up the lane. When it reached the main road, it turned left for Dublin, where forensic scientists will spend the next few weeks formally identifying the remains. The two cars containing Gerry Evans' immediate family turned right for Crossmaglen. There was nothing else to wait for at the site, nothing more to do but to go home and wait some more. But this wait of a few short weeks will be nothing to the three decades they've been waiting to give Gerry Evans the burial they'd prayed for.

काउंटी लूथ में मानव अवशेष मिलने के बाद गेरी इवांस का परिवार अभी भी औपचारिक पहचान की प्रतीक्षा कर रहा है। क्रॉसमैगलेन आदमी को आखिरी बार मार्च 1979 में देखा गया था। बीबीसी रिपोर्टर बारबरा कॉलिन्स परिवार के साथ थी जब कैरिक्रोबिन में साइट पर घटनाएं सामने आईं।


Taxi driver found following Coventry shooting

Summary: Police investigating the shooting of three men in Coventry have identified a taxi driver, following an appeal.

The three victims were attacked on Far Gosford Street on Thursday night, but have since been discharged from hospital. At the time, officers said they believed the taxi driver could have valuable information. He is now helping with the inquiry. West Midlands Police said no arrests had yet been made. The force renewed an appeal for anyone with information to come forward. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands@bbc.co.uk Related Internet Links West Midlands Police

कोवेंट्री में तीन लोगों की गोलीबारी की जांच कर रही पुलिस ने एक अपील के बाद एक टैक्सी चालक की पहचान की है।


Afghan notebook: A voice silenced

Summary: Journalists in Afghanistan have held a candlelight vigil in memory of Sardar Ahmad, the senior reporter for Agence France-Presse, who was killed in a Taliban attack on 20 March. An experienced and popular journalist, Mr Ahmad was gunned down along with his wife and two of his young children at the Serena Hotel in Kabul. The BBC's Harun Najafizada remembers a colleague and friend.

By Harun NajafizadaBBC Persian I first met Sardar Ahmad in 2003 in the early days of the new Afghanistan. It was a time of hope. The Taliban had gone, a new government was in place and our country seemed to be at the centre of the world's attention. We had both just been recruited as reporters. Sardar was covering news coming out of Bagram, the largest US base in the country, while I was posted to Mazar-e Sharif in the north. We often met in Kabul to chat about our stories and Afghan politics or just to listen to Hindi music that we both loved. As the Taliban made a comeback and the security situation began to deteriorate we were both posted back to Kabul. Sardar was a bright, energetic and committed journalist with eyes and ears always open. With his charm and language skills, he built up an impressive network of contacts within the Afghan government, among international players, foreign journalists, local society and even within the insurgent networks. He was key in covering Afghanistan for a world audience, always aware of the ups and downs of Afghan politics. And he was always full of fresh ideas - from the opening of a new bowling alley in Kabul, to police female commandos and most recently the fate of a pet lion he'd discovered being kept in a house in Kabul. I last saw him in at an election rally here in Kabul, striding through the crowd with a camera on his shoulder. He smiled and waved to me from the other side of the Ghazi Stadium. I thought to myself: 'I'll let him get on with his job and later in the week I'll go over to his place and we can go bowling.' But a few days later, four teenage gunmen with pistols hidden in their socks penetrated several layers of security to attack the Serena Hotel in the centre of Kabul. They shot my friend, his wife Humaira, his seven-year-old daughter Nilofar and his five-year-old son Omar from close range while they were having dinner to celebrate Nowruz, our New Year's eve. They also shot his younger son Abozar at least three times, but he survived and is now recovering to keep Sardar's name alive. As details of the attack emerged later, Afghan officials said they did not believe Sardar was the target. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. We began to worry when the usually regular tweets from Pressistan, the local news agency he founded, suddenly stopped. We all wondered why Sardar was silent when such a big news story was happening in our city. The next morning we found out that he had been silenced forever. Like many other Afghan journalists, Sardar had many opportunities to leave the country and seek a better life abroad. But he wanted to stay and be part of the transition process. He hoped that one day Afghanistan would leave violence and chaos behind and he looked forward to reporting on a more normal life. When I first heard the news about his death I hoped against hope that it wasn't true. I felt shocked, angry and frustrated. For many of us journalists in Kabul, Sardar's death has suddenly brought home the grim reality of the relentless violence in our country. It's given a human face to civilian casualties that we have been reporting on for more than a decade. It's one tragedy against the background of so many all across Afghanistan. But it's left everyone - not just the media community, feeling deeply shocked. We will all miss Sardar very much.

अफगानिस्तान में पत्रकारों ने 20 मार्च को तालिबान के हमले में मारे गए एजेंसी फ्रांस-प्रेस के वरिष्ठ रिपोर्टर सरदार अहमद की याद में मोमबत्ती जलाकर चौकसी की। एक अनुभवी और लोकप्रिय पत्रकार, श्री अहमद को काबुल के सेरेना होटल में उनकी पत्नी और उनके दो छोटे बच्चों के साथ गोली मार दी गई थी। बीबीसी के हारून नजफिज़ादा ने एक सहयोगी और दोस्त को याद किया।


Ipswich church tower badly damaged by fire and smoke

Summary: About 40 firefighters tackled flames that engulfed a historic church in the centre of Ipswich on Saturday morning.

The fire broke out at St Mary at the Elms, a 13th Century church, in Elm Street just before 0830 BST. The fire severely damaged the church's tower and a crew spent much of the day monitoring for hot spots, Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service said. Father Paul Hamlet, assistant priest, said he hoped services could be held outside the church this weekend. "But we will have to look for another place to hold them for the near future," he said.

लगभग 40 अग्निशामकों ने शनिवार की सुबह इप्सविच के केंद्र में एक ऐतिहासिक चर्च में लगी आग की लपटों से निपटा।


Why I get mistaken for being drunk

Summary: Sex and relationships for disabled people can give rise to unspoken questions and sensitivities - often among the able bodied. But amid the awkwardness there is humour. The following is an edited version of a monologue by Ruby MacKellar, who has dyspraxia.

Everybody had already taken all the good disabilities, so I got left with dyspraxia. Somebody had to have it. It's a developmental, co-ordination disorder - the less sexy cousin of dyslexia. It largely affects motor control and speech, and memory and information processing, so what generally happens is I fall over a lot and I cock everything up. Little things are difficult for me, like clothes, hair and make-up, so I like wearing large, elasticated clothes that don't show I've dropped my dinner down them. I've no excuse for my hair, obviously. I love living alone because of people. And so my favourite activity is sitting alone on the sofa in my pants, watching telly. I can't actually keep pets or houseplants alive, so I certainly can't keep love and affection alive - that's far too much commitment. I do have some needs though, so to that end I went online and did a bit of online dating. Online dates, generally, can work in your favour because people are invested in them and they want to be there. They're trapped, which is good news for me. Often with dyspraxia, I come over very loud and sweary initially, and if I don't know people I get a bit overpowering and overwhelming. This is apparently a classic dyspraxia symptom and I hadn't realised. I used to think I was this fascinating person with all these quirks and I've discovered I'm nothing but a list of symptoms. I was gutted when I realised this, but don't tell anyone, obviously. Watch all the stories from the Ouch Storytelling event So my date's looking a bit nervous and I thought, we'll go to the nearest pub. I'm going along as I usually do, tripping over, talking loudly, waving my arms around, hitting lampposts and then we try to get into the pub and the bouncer says, "No, you're not coming in." I said, "What?" This is in the afternoon, and the guy says, "No, you're obviously too drunk, you can't come in." I do get this a lot, so I thought I'd argue with him because, as we all know, arguing with a bouncer, you're never going to lose that argument. This was not going well, as you might imagine. And, not being gracious in defeat, I was just swearing and stomping off, having a go at him under my breath and generally vindicating him that I shouldn't be allowed in. And my date says: "No, it's fine, we're going to carry on." The grim determination to have a good time. We're going along and I was thinking I was looking quite good in my heels. I can't walk in high heels, I can barely stand in high heels but this doesn't stop me. They're fairly orthopaedic-looking, flat ones, but it still counts and I imagine it makes me look like a girl, a delicate little flower all sanguine and sexy. Not like the angry tractor that I usually look like. Inevitably, I fall. And I don't fall in the way I would fall in my head [delicately]. No, I come along and I stack it on the pavement. Face on the pavement, limbs flailing, collateral damage, people screaming, swearing loudly. It was a terrible mess. My top tip for this is: don't style it out, just stay on the ground. Otherwise everyone mocks you and people stand around filming it for YouTube, thinking it's hilarious. You stay down and they start to worry and think, hang on, it might actually be serious and, how bad will I look if I'm laughing? So you wait for assistance and someone always comes over and helps you up. The date picks me up off the ground. I'm galled that he didn't prevent it from happening in the first place - I'm already resentful. But fortunately this has taken place outside a pub. I go in and the landlady sees me bleeding everywhere and she comes over with a roll of toilet paper, trying to stem the bleeding and save the furniture. I wasn't too badly hurt because I'm so scarred my knees are nothing but scar tissue from years of falling over. I'm slowly building an exoskeleton of scar tissue and stitches, so you can't actually hurt me at all, like Terminator. We send someone off for TCP and I'm sitting there in the pub with blood, tissues, pouring this [TCP] over my leg because that adds ambience to a sexy date I find. The smell of TCP everywhere - who doesn't love that? By now, I'm drinking and within seconds I'm crying, saying: "Why is everything so difficult? Why is this happening to me?" At this point, I remember you're meant to chat, do small talk, which I can't do. I don't understand it. So I'd written little cues up my arm and tried to pass it off as a tribal tattoo. So I'm chatting away - "What do you do? Where do you live?" It was every bit as scintillating as you might imagine. We decided to leave, and we left of our own volition, which is always a win - not being asked to leave. I get back home and just try and forget all about it, watch cartoons, sit on the sofa in my pants - equilibrium is restored. I'm much happier again. I'm pretty much accepting that I'm going to die penniless and alone and I'm well on course for that. Achievable goals. But then a few days later I hear from the date. He texts me, wants to see me again! Why? Why would you put yourself through that? What sort of person would want to experience all that again, what sort of self-esteem problems do you have? It's absolutely ridiculous. I think, God, I don't want to know anyone that wants to go out with me again, what a loser! And that'll be one of the many, many reasons I've been single for 10 years. Thank you for laughing at my misfortune, I'm very glad that you did! Illustration by Nick Willis You can watch the performers tell their stories on a special programme on the BBC News Channel at 21:30 BST on Sunday. It will also be available on BBC iPlayer for 30 days afterwards. For more Disability News, follow BBC Ouch on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to the weekly podcast.

विकलांग लोगों के लिए यौन संबंध और संबंध अनकहे प्रश्नों और संवेदनशीलता को जन्म दे सकते हैं-अक्सर सक्षम शरीर के बीच। लेकिन अजीबता के बीच हास्य है। निम्नलिखित रूबी मैकेल्लर द्वारा एक एकालाप का एक संपादित संस्करण है, जिसे डिस्प्रैक्सिया है।


Brighton council agrees loan boost to i360 tower plan

Summary: Plans to build a 600ft (183m) viewing platform on Brighton seafront have been given a cash boost after councillors agreed to lend £21.4m to the project, on top of the £14.8m already agreed.

The i360 tower was given planning consent in 2006, but a private backer withdrew £15m last year - the new loan means work could now start in June. A council report said project costs were estimated at £38.8m in July 2012. That rose to £46.2m by December 2013 because of inflation and fee increases. The i360 is to be built by the team who created the London Eye. 'Economy boost' Council leader Jason Kitcat said the council would take out a government loan for the scheme, from the Public Works Loans Board, and pass that on to developers. He said the move would earn the council over £21m in interest payments and fees, which could be used to repair seafront arches, structures, sea defences and walls that are currently in need of £70m repairs. A further £6m is to come from Marks Barfield, the architects behind the scheme, and £4m from the Coast to Capital local enterprise partnership. The project was crucial for revitalising the city's tourism industry and seafront and would be a clear signal the city was open for business, he said. The council has said the tower, near the ruined West Pier, is projected to earn three times more than it needs to cover its loan repayments, and if work starts this spring, the tower could open in June 2016. Council papers said the tower would attract 700,000 to 750,000 visitors a year, including an increase in visitors to the city of 165,000 to 305,000, and would be a focal point around which other businesses could thrive.

ब्राइटन सीफ्रंट पर 600 फीट (183 मीटर) का व्यूइंग प्लेटफॉर्म बनाने की योजना को नकद बढ़ावा दिया गया है, जब पार्षदों ने परियोजना को £ 21.4m उधार देने पर सहमति व्यक्त की है, जो पहले से ही सहमत £ 14.8m के ऊपर है।


Clive Hart elected as Labour leader for Thanet council

Summary: Thanet Council has a Labour leader after Conservative leader Robert Bayford was removed in a narrow vote.

Clive Hart was elected by 28 votes to 26, with one abstention, at Thursday night's council meeting. Thanet became a hung council after the May local elections, with 27 Tories, 26 Labour and three Independents. However, the recent resignation of a Conservative councillor to join the Independents prompted a motion from Mr Hart to remove the Conservative leader. Thanet is now the second council in Kent with a Labour leader. Gravesham became a Labour council following the local elections.

कंजर्वेटिव नेता रॉबर्ट बेफोर्ड को एक संकीर्ण वोट में हटाए जाने के बाद थानेट परिषद में एक लेबर नेता है।


Eurovision: Is Brexit to blame for the UK's latest flop?

Summary: The UK finished in last place at Eurovision on Saturday, despite the best efforts of singer Michael Rice. The talent show winner has reportedly blamed a Brexit backlash, as have some disgruntled British Eurovisionophiles.

By Ian YoungsEntertainment & arts reporter Rice told The Sun that even Gary Barlow or Elton John would have finished last this year. But it's now a decade since the UK has earned a place in the top 10 and more than 20 years since the last win - a losing streak that stretches back long before the EU referendum was a twinkle in David Cameron's eye. So can we really blame politics? And what other factors are at play? Here are five possible reasons the UK flopped - and keeps flopping. 1. Brexit If Europe thought the UK was sticking up two fingers in its direction when the 2016 referendum happened, it's logical to think this could be Europe's way of sending the same message back. But the UK was also doing terribly before the Brexit vote. Some people trace the UK's apparent unpopularity back further. TV critic Kevin O'Sullivan said: "It's because we invaded Iraq. It's because of Afghanistan. To the participants in the Eurovision Song Contest, we're the nearest thing we've got to America and they hate us." But the politics are a red herring, according to The Spectator editor and Eurovision enthusiast Fraser Nelson. He told BBC News: "It's tempting for us Brits to blame politics or Brexit when we flop in Eurovision, but we have to face the facts here. Politics didn't help the Dutch win - they had a superb song and we just didn't. "As long as Britain keeps blaming politics for our Eurovision failure, we're going to keep falling flat on the world's largest musical stage and we're going to keep sending entries that are visibly worse than those submitted by countries a tenth of our size." 2. The selection process As the dust has settled after Saturday's contest, there have been calls for the BBC - which runs the UK selection process - to up its game. "If we want to win as a country, we have to put more resources behind it," Grammy-winning record producer Steve Levine told BBC Breakfast. Nelson agreed, saying the corporation needs to take the contest more seriously - with funding to match. Most other top countries have a more rigorous and competitive selection process with more songs to choose from, he explained. "I think the BBC ought to ask whether it's sufficiently committed to Eurovision to keep doing this," he said. "Britain puts in less effort than the vast majority of countries when it comes to how many heats you do. You get out of this what you put into it." The Netherlands won on Saturday after a 44-year barren spell, and Eurovision expert Paul Jordan said they had turned their fortunes around after getting record labels involved. "The team from the BBC really try hard, but without the record companies' involvement you're not going to get the great songs and songwriters coming through." 3. The talent However, great British songwriters and performers don't want to touch Eurovision with a bargepole, partly in case they flop too and partly... because it's Eurovision. "People are not applying and putting their best songs in because they don't want to be associated with Eurovision," superfan Will O'Regan told BBC Breakfast. That wasn't always the case. Acts like Sandie Shaw and Cliff Richard were already stars when they participated in the 1960s. "We need to look at where the songs are coming from," Levine said. "Traditionally, it was people who were at the top of their game. We need to make sure we're getting the songs from the very finest professional songwriters, and we get their A-list songs." Nelson added: "Britain is the only country in Europe that's a net exporter of music. "We are just dripping in musical talent here and to see us on the world's most-watched non-sporting event sending in songs that do not reflect any of our national talent, it's embarrassing because we can do so much better." 4. The song Rice's entry Bigger Than Us was actually written by John Lundvik, who competed for Sweden this year. London-born Lundvik co-wrote two songs, but he, his management and record company decided to go with Too Late For Love - which took him to sixth place. Rice got the other one. "I thought the song was just very boring, and I thought it sounded very old fashioned," comedian and radio host Ayesha Hazarika told BBC Radio 5 Live. "He was like a wee guy who lost his boy band." And what is bigger than us precisely? Its lyrics are pretty generic, whereas The Netherlands' victor Duncan Laurence was inspired to write his winning song, Arcade, about a loved one who died young. The previous year, Netta won with another song that meant a lot to her - albeit in a very different way. YouTuber and Eurovision fan Alesia Michelle said it helps if an artist has a personal connection to their song. "At the end of the day that's what makes the difference," she told 5 Live. "People at home are going to know you're truly connected to the song you're singing, and I think that's truly why Duncan ended up winning - because it wasn't just a good pop song, it wasn't [just] something that was catchy, it was something that truly felt authentic to him and it was a story he could get on the stage and sell because it was real to him." UK jury spokesman Rylan Clark-Neal told the BBC's Eurovision Calling podcast that Rice gave "one of the best vocals in the competition", but wasn't helped by the song's slow start. "I'm not sure if it was the sound or what it was, but I thought the beginning was extremely quiet, the vocals," he said. "That first 10 seconds are all about viewers at home [thinking], am I going to grab another drink? Am I going for a wee?" Meanwhile, writer Kit Lovelace analysed the last 20 winners and losers, and found that winners were more likely to be in a minor key, and last-placed songs were more likely to be in a major key. Bigger Than Us was in C major. And The Guardian's Martin Belam pointed out that things started going downhill for the UK in 1999 - the year the rules changed to allow other countries to sing in English, which may have removed an advantage for the UK (and Ireland). 5. The semi-finals As one of the "big five" countries that contribute the most funds for the contest, the UK doesn't have to compete in the semi-finals and goes straight to the final. But that's not always an advantage. Of the big five, Italy is the only country that has not consistently underperformed. Average positions of the big five in Eurovision finals since 2011 Perhaps the big five are at a disadvantage because fans aren't so familiar with their songs, or because the acts haven't had the extra practice of the semi-final. Or perhaps fans resent the fact they get a free pass. Nelson said it had "made us lazy over the years" because the UK had not been forced to qualify from the semis. "We haven't worked out just what a sophisticated operation Eurovision is - that you need choreography, you need staging, you need a very different song that will cross all of these linguistic boundaries," he said. But things could all change quickly if the UK decided that this year's experience was a humiliation too far, he added. "If we want to properly join this contest and put in as much effort as some other European countries... if we were to properly try, then we could get back in the top 10 next year. "We could win next year if we wanted to." Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

गायक माइकल राइस के सर्वश्रेष्ठ प्रयासों के बावजूद ब्रिटेन शनिवार को यूरोविज़न में अंतिम स्थान पर रहा। टैलेंट शो के विजेता ने कथित तौर पर ब्रेक्सिट बैकलैश को दोषी ठहराया है, जैसा कि कुछ असंतुष्ट ब्रिटिश यूरोविज़नफ़ाइल्स ने भी कहा है।


Jack Shepherd: Can a fugitive remain on the run forever?

Summary: Three days before Jack Shepherd was due to stand trial for manslaughter by gross negligence, police found he had disappeared. He was convicted in his absence of killing Charlotte Brown in a drunken speedboat crash and has spent the last six months on the run. Can a fugitive really evade the law forever?

By William McLennanBBC News Shepherd had been trying to impress Ms Brown when he let her drive his defective boat along the River Thames on their first date in 2015. It was a drastic error of judgement which ended with the speeding vessel capsizing, throwing the pair into the water, where the 24-year-old drowned. Rather than face the consequences, the 30-year-old web developer skipped bail before his court appearance and fled, sparking a manhunt that Ms Brown's family described as "prolonging the agony for everyone". He was sentenced regardless to six years in prison, not a day of which he has served, and his whereabouts remain a mystery. But should police prioritise his capture above the two dozen hardened criminals on its most wanted list - and where do officers even start when a suspect goes on the run? The first step is to prevent a fugitive leaving the country. When officers update the UK's police national computer, marking a suspect as internationally wanted, an alert will be circulated to forces at all UK ports and across Europe, via a crime-fighting database known as the Schengen Information System II. "If he tried to get out through one of the established ports using his ID, he'd get picked up," said Nick Biddis, a retired detective superintendent who led Kent Police's capture of Kenneth Noye, one of Britain's most infamous fugitives. This, however, can be circumvented using smaller ports or forged documents. And while it is not known if Shepherd has left the country, recent cases have demonstrated the ease with which criminals can slip over borders. Shane O'Brien, who was wanted over the murder of Josh Hanson in 2015, left the country on a private flight from Biggin Hill Airport. He was arrested by Czech police in February 2017 while using fake Italian documents and released before officers discovered his true identity. He remains at large. Peter Bleksley, a retired Met Police detective and star of Channel 4's Hunted - which pits a team of professional investigators against contestants - said forged documents were no longer the preserve of well-connected underworld figures, thanks to illicit marketplaces on the dark web. Tech-savvy Shepherd was "going to know his way around the dark web better than your average Joe," he said. A fugitive's "family and known associations" would be the next port of call. "You rattle the cages of those that are near and dear to him," said Mr Bleksley. "Search their homes, check their devices. Is each and every number allocated to a person or is there a phone call received from an unknown number?" In some cases, officers would be deployed to monitor their movements. "But this is all manpower intensive," he said. "I have my concerns about just how many officers will be actively working on [Shepherd's] case." Other tactics include utilising a network of cameras, known as the automatic number plate recognition system, to track a suspect's car. An application to the Home Office for authority to trace known phone numbers, email addresses and social media accounts, could also be sought. "You look at any phones he has used. Who has he called and emailed? Has he laid his hands on a burner [disposable] phone?" asked Mr Bleksley. Bank accounts can be monitored or frozen. In Shepherd's case, the Met said he had not accessed any bank or line of communication that they knew of. You might also be interested in How I took my family on the run for 19 years Can postcards catch Europe's most wanted? What happened to Carole Packman? Tony Imossi, a private investigator with more than 30 years' experience, said staying "below the radar" required support. To avoid detection Shepherd would have had to ditch his phone, bank accounts and all known online accounts, as well as staying away from government agencies, like the NHS. He would also have had to avoid contacting his loved ones. "It's very difficult for someone to drop out of their circle and live completely hidden," said Mr Imossi. "You need someone to have a bank account in your name, to have a car insurance in your name, all this is expensive. It requires a lot of support." If he flew out of Britain before border staff were alerted, Shepherd could have left Europe along an established route without leaving a trace, the investigator said. "He could have caught a flight to Gibraltar... From there he can cross the border into Spain and could then get to Morocco and be in Africa without leaving any footprint." Mr Imossi said the focus would be on building a profile of Shepherd and his acquaintances, before carrying out "intensive surveillance" and door-to-door inquiries. "He will emerge eventually. He would not be living a life of luxury, drinking cocktails on a sandy beach. At some point he will run out of finances and help and will live an uncomfortable life. Even [Great Train Robber] Ronnie Biggs had to come home eventually." The stress of evading police would eventually take its toll, Mr Bleksley added. "Going on the run is draining, both physically and mentally." The National Crime Agency (NCA) plays a vital role in tracking fugitives and co-ordinating the actions of police forces in the UK and abroad. It declined to detail its methods but a spokesman said officers work to "develop intelligence" using both "open sources and police sources of information". The agency's UK International Crime Bureau works with Interpol. The extradition unit of the Met's serious and organised crime command, known as SCO7, tracks foreign criminals in the UK. The force relies on counterparts in similar units abroad - like the Serious and Organised Crime Team in Holland, which has become a notorious bolthole for British fugitives. In recent years, the Dutch unit has been responsible for capturing James Taylor, Anthony Downes and Kirk Bradley - responsible for knife, gun and grenade attacks in Liverpool. In the case of Shepherd, the Met would only confirm that the search is "being supported by detectives from other specialist departments". An international arrest warrant has been obtained and law enforcement agencies across the world have been alerted. Det Ch Insp Mick Norman, who is leading the hunt for the force's homicide and major crime command, said Shepherd may be using the accounts of friends or associates to evade arrest and extradition and urged anyone helping him to "do the right thing". Kevin Moore, a retired chief superintendent with more than 40 years of policing experience, said fugitives were often only caught when arrested for another crime. Despite technological advances - and revelations about the vast reach of Britain's intelligence services - breakthroughs in long-running manhunts also often come from tip-offs. "Unless there is intelligence fed back that an individual is in a particular place, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack," Mr Moore said. "If you have got the financial backing or are a high level criminal, if you keep your head below the parapet, it's quite easy to disappear. It's a big world." Mr Biddis, who led the team that tracked down Noye in Spain following a tip-off, said police were likely to receive daily suspected sightings of Shepherd, the majority of which are "probably cobblers". "You can't ignore any. It's like panning for gold. You just have to sift through it all, looking for a nugget." Mr Bleksley believes somebody will recognise Shepherd and contact police, describing it as "his Achilles heel". If he is located abroad, police will face the question of how to bring him back to the UK. In countries with existing extradition treaties - or the 28 members of the EU, which observes European Arrest Warrants - the process would be straightforward, Mr Biddis said. Elsewhere, police will have to request the Home and Foreign Offices to go through diplomatic channels and the country's judicial process. "That can take weeks or months, if they fight it." According to the NCA, 183 suspects wanted in Britain were arrested under European Arrest Warrants last year. The agency features 27 people on its most wanted list who have been convicted, or suspected of, crimes including murder, rape and importing class-A drugs. Shepherd is not currently listed. Ms Brown's sister, Katie, from Dartford, Kent, has called for a review of how he was able to communicate with his lawyers and win the right to appeal against his conviction, while evading justice. "In a perfect world there would be a team of experienced, dedicated, resourceful detectives applied to the search for Shepherd," Mr Bleksley said. "But, the fact of the matter is there are murders happening in the UK on a daily basis and they will need investigating too."

जैक शेफर्ड पर घोर लापरवाही से हुई हत्या के लिए मुकदमा चलने से तीन दिन पहले, पुलिस ने पाया कि वह गायब हो गया था। उसे नशे में धुत स्पीडबोट दुर्घटना में शार्लोट ब्राउन की हत्या के लिए दोषी ठहराया गया था और उसने पिछले छह महीने भागते हुए बिताए हैं। क्या एक भगोड़ा वास्तव में हमेशा के लिए कानून से बच सकता है?


Flooding and storms: How to make an insurance claim

Summary: Heavy rain has brought extensive flood damage to the UK, with further threats to come in the coming weeks.

The expectation is that this will bring a string of insurance claims from residents whose homes and vehicles have been damaged. It comes after the St Jude storm in southern England in October, which led to insurance payouts of about £130m, and the tidal surges and gales during December and the festive season. Insurers have representatives in many of the areas affected, along with other authorities. But the Association of British Insurers (ABI) says that people can take action to mitigate the damage.

भारी बारिश ने ब्रिटेन को बाढ़ से व्यापक नुकसान पहुंचाया है, आने वाले हफ्तों में और खतरे हैं।


Stolen Colchester KFC Colonel Sanders found under bed

Summary: A Kentucky Fried Chicken Colonel Sanders logo stolen from a restaurant has been found hidden under the suspected thief's bed.

Thieves legged it with colonel's large head from the front of the KFC in Colchester High Street over Christmas, police said. However, officers kept abreast of the matter, and while searching a house for other items found the sign under a bed. They said two men were "dealt with for their silly behaviour". Officers posted about their finger-lickin' find on Facebook, using the hashtag "winner winner chicken dinner". A KFC spokesman said: "We've heard of some weird fetishes - but this is ridiculous. Under the bed? "We'll have to get him steam-cleaned now."

एक रेस्तरां से चुराया गया केंटकी फ्राइड चिकन कर्नल सैंडर्स का लोगो संदिग्ध चोर के बिस्तर के नीचे छिपा हुआ पाया गया है।


£200m A55/A494 Deeside roads revamp consultation in March

Summary: Plans for a £200m overhaul to ease congestion on the A55/A494 dual carriageway in Flintshire are to go out to public consultation.

Proposals to tackle hold-ups on the Deeside corridor between Queensferry and Northop date back over 10 years. One option includes a new link road to the A55 at Northop via Flintshire Bridge on the A548, and the second involves improving the existing road. The 12-week consultation starts in March, the Welsh Government announced. Economy Secretary Ken Skates said: "The road is consistently carrying more traffic than it was designed to do and this is causing regular congestions issues. "There is clear need for the road to be upgraded and brought up to modern standards. "Both options in this consultation will deliver a safer, more sustainable, better connected road, with improved capacity, reliability and journey times."

फ्लिंटशायर में ए55/ए494 दोहरे कैरिजवे पर भीड़ को कम करने के लिए 200 मिलियन पाउंड के ओवरहाल की योजना को सार्वजनिक परामर्श के लिए जाना है।


EuroMillions lottery winner urged to claim £1m prize

Summary: People have been urged to use their time in lockdown to dig out and check old lottery tickets - with a £1m prize still outstanding.

The money was won in the EuroMillions draw on 7 February, with the ticket bought in Ceredigion. Players were told to check their tickets after someone missed out on a £1m prize last week. The ticket was bought in Rhondda Cynon Taff for a draw that took place on 22 October. However, the winner failed to claim it within the 180-day window. Camelot spokesman Andy Carter said: "In the current situation and to avoid this unfortunate situation happening again, we're urging all National Lottery players to play and check their tickets online."

लोगों से आग्रह किया गया है कि वे लॉकडाउन में अपने समय का उपयोग पुराने लॉटरी टिकटों की जांच करने के लिए करें-जिसमें £1 मिलियन का पुरस्कार अभी भी बकाया है।


Who to believe on Zimbabwe social media remains unclear

Summary: On social media there are several accounts claiming to be the mouthpiece of Zimbabwe's governing Zanu-PF party, but it's unclear which, if any, are official, and what links they have with those currently in charge.

By BBC TrendingWhat's popular and why News networks across the world have been reporting on the seizure of power by military generals in Zimbabwe. Many media outlets, including the BBC, reported posts by the unverified Twitter account @zanu_pf which claims to be "the only official handle" for the Zanu-PF party. But it's far from clear who is in control of the account and what their connection to the party is. The account was described as a fake by PRI in 2012, and has previously adopted a tone at odds with what might be expected from official accounts. Its Twitter history is full of rants and proclamations about pornography, eggs Benedict and imperialism. Several journalists in Africa, or specialising on African issues, quickly derided the reporting on the Zanu PF account. Matina Stevis-Gridneff, Africa reporter at the Wall Street Journal referred to it as a "parody account," but said she, too, had earlier mistakenly retweeted its content. Alastair Jamieson, from NBC News' London office, tweeted he was trying to establish whether the account was not to be trusted, but could not find the evidence. The confusion about who's running the account isn't limited to outside observers. At times Zanu-PF officials have publicly wondered who is running the account. In 2013 another account, reported to be that of a spokesman for the Zanu-PF party, tried to "urgently" establish contact with the person running the @zanu_pf handle. It is not known what contact was made between the account @zanu_pf and the Zanu-PF party. In a surreal turn of events, the unverified account was accused of being a fake in 2016 by a parody account mocking Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. In the post the fake Mr Mugabe claimed the "official party account" was @ZANUPF_Official. The @ZANUPF_Official account is another which has seen a popularity boost after recent events in the country. It had slightly over a thousand followers in 2013, a few thousand on Wednesday morning, and over 10,000 by Thursday morning. Again, it's unclear what connection the account has, if any, with the party leadership. It has tweeted infrequently - just 535 times since 2013. Unusually for a party account claiming to be official, it did not post at all during 2014 or the first half of 2017. The account became active again in August with a post stating that it, and not the other account - @zanu_pf - was the real deal. Perhaps unsurprisingly, social media users replied expressing their confusion and questioning the legitimacy of both @zanu_pf and @ZANUPF_Official. "Look at these jokers," posted one Harare resident. "Both from the same tree." "Get verified so we know which one is real," suggested a business analyst from East Zimbabwe. And "now we don't know which one is the fake one," joked a third user from South Africa. The lack of clarity over who is running these political accounts extends to another Twitter account, one claiming to be the youth wing of the party. Posting between 6 and 14 November, the account @YLZANUPF1 was highly critical of former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa and General Constantino Chiwenga, and supportive of Grace Mugabe's bid for the vice-presidency. However, since the military seized power on Wednesday morning the tone of their posts had radically changed. It sent out tweets praising the "gallant Zimbabwean Army" which was "professionally and peacefully carrying out the National Democractic Project". Some have been left questioning if control of this account has changed hands. But why has there been such confusion over Twitter accounts? Some see it as a symptom of a wider problem in the representation of African users on social media. Chipo Dendere took aim at Twitter for "not verifying African accounts", arguing a lack of verification causes confusion. Replying to Sally Hayden, one of the first journalists to raise the alarm over the citing of the @zanu_pf account on Wednesday morning, fellow journalist Caelainn Hogan asked: "If there was more credence and respect given to nameless 'journalists in Africa', or better yet Zimbabwean journalists and researchers, maybe this wouldn't be such an issue?" The online confusion reflected the foggy situation on Wednesday morning, with Zimbabwe's media not covering the takeover until the lunchtime news and organisations involved avoiding the term "coup". Other media outlets have run footage from September, believing it to be showing armoured vehicles approaching Harare on Tuesday. Several newspapers and websites claimed Emmerson Mnangagwe had returned to Harare from exile, using a still from a video filmed in August of the former vice-president arriving at Manyame Air Force Base to support this claim. Multiple accounts, some switching their messages, many accused of parody, international journalists uncertain which can be dismissed, local journalists hesitant, and a lack of verification on African Twitter: Who to believe on Zimbabwean social media remains unclear. Live page: Latest updates You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

सोशल मीडिया पर जिम्बाब्वे की सत्तारूढ़ ज़ानू-पी. एफ. पार्टी का मुखपत्र होने का दावा करने वाले कई खाते हैं, लेकिन यह स्पष्ट नहीं है कि कौन से, यदि कोई हैं, तो आधिकारिक हैं, और वर्तमान में प्रभारी लोगों के साथ उनके क्या संबंध हैं।