With UAE deal, Israel opens tentative new chapter with Gulf Arabs

Summary: "Historic"; "A breakthrough"; "A game-changer"; "A betrayal": there is no shortage of epithets for this month's sudden announcement - by President Trump - that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is to fully normalise its relations with Israel.

By Frank GardnerBBC security correspondent After Egypt's peace treaty with Israel in 1979, followed by Jordan's in 1994, this makes the UAE only the third Arab country to normalise relations. It is the first of the six Arab Gulf states to do so. Oman. Bahrain and possibly Morocco are widely expected to follow. Discreet contacts between the UAE and Israel had been under way for years but still, the details and timing of this normalisation deal were kept secret right up to the last minute. There were no consultations between the UAE foreign ministry in Abu Dhabi and its Arab neighbours. Almost everyone was taken by surprise, most of all the Palestinians, who called it "a stab in the back" since they have yet to come close to getting a state of their own or ending Israeli occupation. "For the Palestinians, there is zero upside here," comments Emile Hokayem from the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. For the UAE's de facto ruler Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed (known as MBZ), this deal is something of a gamble but one with the odds heavily in his favour. The risk is it could make the UAE leadership highly unpopular in the wider Arab world where some social media postings have been calling it "a sell-out". Were the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to renege on his promise to temporarily shelve annexation of parts of the West Bank then that would be extremely embarrassing for the Emiratis and possibly see the whole deal unravel. But such a move would also draw disapproval from the White House and besides, popular street protests are not usually tolerated in the Gulf. "In the short term, the pitfalls for the UAE are very limited," says Mr Hokayem. "This deal is not going to affect the UAE regime's stability. It reflects the changing geopolitics of the region and it buys the UAE a lot of goodwill in the US, where its image has been tarnished by its involvement in the Yemen war." So what is behind this deal and what's in it for this relatively young Gulf nation and former British protectorate that only became a sovereign nation in 1971? In short, it is two things - strategic advantage and technology. The UAE, along with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, has a deep mistrust, even a fear, of its giant, heavily-armed neighbour across the water: Iran. Gulf Arab leaders look at the map of the region and they note how, despite crippling sanctions, Iran's strategic presence has advanced rapidly across the Middle East ever since the bulwark of Saddam Hussein's regime was removed in Iraq. Where once Iran was largely confined to its national borders, today it has proxy militias in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen. Israel shares this concern, especially when it comes to Iran's secretive nuclear programme. Then there is what is known as "Islamism" or "political Islam", a transnational concept often embodied by the Muslim Brotherhood and one which certain Gulf Arab rulers view as an existential threat to their dynastic monarchies. No-one dislikes the Muslim Brotherhood more fervently than the UAE crown prince and this has led to the UAE backing anti-Muslim Brotherhood factions as far away as Libya while seeing its interests clash increasingly with those of Turkey's Islamist government. In practice, this has led to the formation of an unofficial partnership of conservative Middle Eastern governments, a de facto club to which Israel, with its formidable intelligence capabilities, is now being admitted as an associate member. And there is technology, including biotech, healthcare, defence and cyber surveillance. Here, the UAE already has form, having purchased Israeli-manufactured spyware some years ago to keep an eye on its own citizens. The UAE has deep pockets - it has vast oil reserves and a per capita GDP of nearly $40,000 (£30,000). It also has ambitions globally, and beyond, having just become the first Arab country to send a mission to Mars. Israel is by far the most technologically advanced country in the Middle East, with cutting-edge inventions. If this alliance works out it could propel the UAE to a new level of prosperity and international prestige, while safeguarding future jobs for its citizens. Israel's overtures to the Gulf go back some way. In 1995, shortly before Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a Jewish extremist, he sent his Foreign Minister Shimon Peres on an official visit to Oman and Qatar. Low-key Israeli trade offices then opened up in both countries' capitals. I remember calling up their office in Muscat for a comment - the Israeli representative inadvertently answered the phone with the Hebrew greeting "Shalom" before quickly changing it to the Arabic "Salaamu aleikum". The trade initiative withered away after Mr Netanyahu became prime minister, Israel intervened in Lebanon and the second Palestinian intifada erupted. But more recently quiet diplomacy between Israel and the Gulf states has accelerated as a fear of Iranian expansionism has become the prime preoccupation. Bahrain, Oman and Qatar may well follow the UAE if this month's announcement passes without major incident. Saudi Arabia may take longer. But back in 2002 it was the Saudis who launched the Crown Prince Abdullah Peace Plan at the Beirut Arab summit, offering Israel full recognition in exchange for a return to its pre-1967 borders. The deal briefly put Israeli PM Ariel Sharon on the spot but days later Hamas carried out bombings and all talks were off. Today the Middle East is a very different place and what was then unthinkable is now a reality. "Guess what were the most searched-for words online in the UAE immediately after the deal was announced?" said an Emirati official. "It was 'hotels in Israel'. A lot of people can't wait to visit!"

"ऐतिहासिक"; "एक सफलता"; "एक गेम-चेंजर"; "एक विश्वासघात": इस महीने की अचानक घोषणा के लिए विशेषणों की कोई कमी नहीं है-राष्ट्रपति ट्रम्प द्वारा-कि संयुक्त अरब अमीरात (यू. ए. ई.) इज़राइल के साथ अपने संबंधों को पूरी तरह से सामान्य कर रहा है।


Eyemouth lifeboat crew rescues stranded coastal walker

Summary: A walker has been rescued after getting stranded while out on the Scottish Borders coast.

The Eyemouth RNLI inshore lifeboat was sent out to the incident at about 14:30 on Sunday. The walker called out the emergency services after getting into difficulties. The lifeboat arrived on the scene quickly and the crew was able to safely recover the girl involved who was then reunited with their family. It was the second callout for the inshore boat over the weekend. A crew was also sent out to help a casualty who had fallen and injured his head on Saturday afternoon at about 16:30. Related Internet Links RNLI

स्कॉटिश सीमा तट पर बाहर जाते समय फंसे हुए एक पैदल यात्री को बचा लिया गया है।


Alderney plans sustainable future

Summary: Alderney is likely to be 100% energy independent by 2020 if a proposal for a waste disposal unit gets approval, the States of Alderney has said.

It said an anaerobic digester would create 800kw of energy, powering 1,900 residents' homes through waste. Roy Burke, chief executive for the States, said it would save £200,000 a year. If approved the plant is likely to be built later this year. Currently Alderney sends its waste to Guernsey to be buried in landfill. Mr Burke said Mont Cuet landfill site was rapidly filling up and the plan could provide an alternative.

एल्डर्नी के राज्यों ने कहा है कि यदि अपशिष्ट निपटान इकाई के प्रस्ताव को मंजूरी मिल जाती है तो एल्डर्नी के 2020 तक 100% ऊर्जा स्वतंत्र होने की संभावना है।


Man, 45, falls off pier in St Ives

Summary: A man who fell off a pier on to concrete in Cornwall has been airlifted to hospital, coastguards have said.

The incident happened in St Ives harbour at about 16:00 BST. He is believed to be 45-years-old and fell about 7ft (2.1m), coastguards said. A rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose has airlifted him to the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske, in Truro. Coastguards said they did not believe his injuries were life threatening.

तटरक्षकों ने कहा है कि कॉर्नवाल में एक घाट से कंक्रीट पर गिरने वाले एक व्यक्ति को हवाई मार्ग से अस्पताल ले जाया गया है।


Can orcas ever be healthy in captivity?

Summary: Last month SeaWorld announced it was ending its orca breeding programme and said the 29 orcas currently in its parks would be the last. But the company did not step back from its long-held claim that its orcas - also known as killer whales - live long healthy lives. Liz Bonnin was granted unique access to SeaWorld to investigate this claim and weigh the scientific evidence.

Just five months prior to this announcement I was at SeaWorld's Orlando theme park to find out what scientific studies SeaWorld carried out on the welfare of its orcas and to ask for a response to the growing body of independent research on cetaceans - an order of marine mammals that includes dolphins and orcas - which indicates that orcas cannot thrive in captivity. I asked Dr Chris Dold, SeaWorld's Vice President of Veterinary Services, if he could envisage a time when SeaWorld would no longer keep orcas. "I don't imagine that future," he replied, "because we know our killer whales are thriving in the habitats where we keep them now." SeaWorld So why has SeaWorld now made the decision to stop breeding them? Joel Manby, CEO of SeaWorld, says it's a result of the public's dramatically changing attitudes to orcas since the company started keeping and displaying them in 1964. "They were feared, hated and even hunted," he says. "Half a century later, orcas are among the most popular marine mammals on the planet. One reason: people came to SeaWorld and learned about orcas up close. Now we need to respond to the attitudinal change that we helped to create." But perhaps an additional reason for the public's shifting opinion about SeaWorld's orcas is the 2013 film Blackfish, which documented events leading up to the tragic death of Dawn Brancheau, a SeaWorld trainer killed by a bull orca named Tilikum. After the film's release, attendances at SeaWorld fell, as did the company's share price. Like many others, I was moved by the footage and interviews I saw in the film and even went so far as to call, on social media, for SeaWorld to close. SeaWorld did not take part in Blackfish, so getting the opportunity to hear their side of the story was a welcome development. I asked Chris Dold why he thought Tilikum attacked and killed Dawn, but he objected to the use of these words. "This was not an attack, this was a terrible accident," he said. So if it wasn't an attack, was it a mistake on Dawn's part? Or was Tilikum behaving somewhat unnaturally? "Neither of those is true," he said. "There is risk, every day working with animals and those risks are implicit in the size and nature of the animal. Rather than speculate about what happened that day we're focused on putting significant efforts to re-evaluate our approach to safely working with whales." Tilikum, who was collected from the wild 33 years ago and has lived at SeaWorld in Orlando for 24 of those years, has a tumultuous history. He had already been involved in the deaths of a trainer in a park in Canada and a member of the public in Orlando before pulling Dawn Brancheau into the pool in 2010. Orca or killer whale? Source: Whales.org But Tilikum is not unique. In fact, two months earlier, another orca had killed his trainer in a park in Spain. According to SeaWorld's records, orcas injured trainers 12 times between 1988 and 2009. These statistics raise an important question: could the constraints of captivity contribute to abnormally aggressive behaviour, or compromise an orca's psychological health? "There's no evidence whatsoever that there is any mental aberration that is a result of living in a zoological park or otherwise," Chris Dold told me. When asked if he could show me the research that might support such a statement he said there was "experiential evidence" and that "over time deep empirical evidence will come forward". Dr Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist at the Animal Welfare Institute in Washington DC has a different view of the impact of captivity on orcas. She describes orcas as the ants of the mammal world. "I think that orcas are more social than people are. I think their family lives are more important to them than they are for us," she says. "They cannot be isolated from friends and family because it will in fact cause problems for them. Socially, emotionally, psychologically, physically." The physical health of SeaWorld's orcas has been brought into question by others too. Images on the internet of orcas' open mouths seem to show broken, worn-down teeth, sometimes with the pulp exposed - a direct route for infection to enter the body. Worn teeth can be found in some wild orca populations that feed on sharks - over a lifetime, abrasive shark skin will cause the teeth to wear out. Some wild orcas that feed by sucking fish into their mouth can also wear out their teeth eventually, as fish scales repeatedly scrape past their teeth. But SeaWorld's orcas are fed fish directly into their gullets, with their mouths wide open. According to Naomi Rose, some break their teeth on the enclosures. "They're chewing the walls, they're chewing on the gates neurotically, persistently, on the concrete walls or metal gates through what we call stereotypic behaviour," she says. Stereotypic behaviour, which includes repetitive swaying, pacing and licking or biting of walls and bars, is an abnormal behaviour carried out by captive animals. It is most common and acute in wide-ranging carnivores, and many scientists believe it is linked to stress. But Chris Dold says that SeaWorld's orcas wear down their teeth by manipulating their environment. "Killer whales off the coast of the Canary Islands move rocks in order to get to the fish at the bottom. SeaWorld's killer whales manipulate devices that are in the habitat and explore parts of their habitat. If there's a free component the whales will examine and move it around," he says, referring to devices placed in the orcas' tanks for them to investigate. Find out more Wild animal biologist and science presenter Liz Bonnin presents Horizon: Should We Close Our Zoos? which airs on BBC2 at 21:00 on Sunday 17 April. Viewers in the UK can catch up afterwards on the iPlayer. To date SeaWorld has not published any research about its orcas' dental health to confirm the cause of damage to their teeth. No studies into the orcas' general welfare have been published either. Dold told me: "It's a box that needs checking, for sure, but we have over the years been publishing the baseline information." Now that SeaWorld has announced the end of its breeding programme, does any of this matter? SeaWorld currently has 29 orcas, half of which are aged 15 or under, and one of which will soon give birth. How long they can be expected to live is disputed. According to a recent SeaWorld paper its captive-born orcas should live to around 47 years, which is comparable to orcas in the wild. But the method used to reach this figure is controversial and independent scientists are preparing papers to contest the claim. Yet even if a more accurate lifespan for captive orcas is 20 to 30 years, as some scientists argue, SeaWorld will have orcas in its parks for some considerable time yet. In August 2014, the company announced a plan to double the size of its orca tanks as part of its "Blue World" project. The new tanks were going to be 15m deep and 107m across. Orcas are known to travel 100 miles (160km) a day, and according to Naomi Rose, these marine mammals need to travel such distances not just to feed but to stay healthy. Back in October Chris Dold was enthusiastic about these new tanks. "There are a couple of parts of this habitat that are particularly exciting because of what technology is allowing us to do right now," he said. "What we're referring to as the dynamic enrichment programme. It's largely based on the science that's out there in terms of understanding how animals thrive in zoos, a developing field of environmental enrichment." Unlike the existing flat-walled tanks, which are devoid of any features, the new pools were set to have objects that could be attached to the bottom - puzzles of sorts, for the orcas to interact with - as well as a giant turbine propelling water so that the orcas could swim against the flow. But now that the breeding programme has come to an end, so it seems have plans for Blue World. The signs are that SeaWorld's remaining orcas will live out their lives in the existing tanks. Naomi Rose wants to see the orcas retired to seaside sanctuaries. "Sanctuaries are models that are out there for elephants, chimpanzees, big cats and we can do it for orcas," she says. But SeaWorld makes it very clear on its website that it is opposed to sea pens. "First and most important, our killer whales are thriving right where they are… These are environments that are home for our animals and that allow us to care for them properly," it says "There are other reasons why sea pens are a poor choice for our whales, including exposure to pollution, ocean debris and life-threatening pathogens." Joel Manby insists the orcas will be well taken care of."For as long as they live, the orcas at SeaWorld will stay in our parks," he says. "They'll continue to receive the highest quality care, based on the latest advances in marine veterinary medicine, science and zoological best practices." Some in the zoo world see the changes at SeaWorld as indicative of what might happen at other zoos. With a substantial body of scientific evidence about the negative effects of captivity on other wide-ranging carnivores like polar bears and big cats, and with recent research showing that the life expectancy of zoo elephants is half that of those working in Burmese timber camps, David Hancocks, ex-director of Woodland Parks Zoo in Seattle, thinks it's just a matter of time before big changes take place in other zoological institutions. "As it becomes more and more evident that many of the big animals that are the standard stars of zoos should not be in captivity, I think that the public will react in similar ways to the way they have reacted to the revelations about what was happening in SeaWorld," he says. He imagines zoos of the future with fewer big charismatic animals, giving attention to small species that do well in captivity, in environments that are stimulating for them, and even with very small life form exhibits that showcase the interdependence and interconnectedness of the natural world. The next question perhaps, is how much and how quickly zoos, and the public, might want to embrace such a change. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

पिछले महीने सीवर्ल्ड ने घोषणा की कि वह अपने ओर्का प्रजनन कार्यक्रम को समाप्त कर रहा है और कहा कि वर्तमान में उसके उद्यानों में 29 ऑर्का अंतिम होंगे। लेकिन कंपनी अपने लंबे समय से चले आ रहे दावे से पीछे नहीं हटी कि उसके ऑर्का-जिन्हें किलर व्हेल के रूप में भी जाना जाता है-लंबे स्वस्थ जीवन जीते हैं। लिज़ बोनिन को इस दावे की जांच करने और वैज्ञानिक साक्ष्यों को तौलने के लिए सीवर्ल्ड तक अनूठी पहुंच प्रदान की गई थी।


How horror film Saint Maud taps into loneliness

Summary: Welsh actress Morfydd Clark has shared her concern for the well-being of health workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, saying "the circumstances mean that you can't do enough, while being called a hero, that's very tough".

By Emma JonesEntertainment reporter The actress, who is currently filming the Amazon TV series of Lord of the Rings in New Zealand, stars in the British horror film Saint Maud, about a young palliative care nurse who has suffered mental health problems and believes she hears the voice of God. Clark, who was born in Sweden but raised in Cardiff, says she has several relatives who work in care professions, and sought their advice before filming the part. "I spoke to my Mum, and my cousins a lot to figure out where Maud's coming from. Maud used to work for a hospital, and now she's in the private sector and the audience has the hint that in the past something awful has happened at work with her, which has tipped her over the edge. "I was talking to my Mum about that, and she told me that you can deal with all things, if you have the reserves for it. "But if you constantly can't get to someone to change their bed in time, or to make sure they're not dehydrated, or to comfort someone, you feel part of their humiliation. That really hit home with me. "Maud has gone into a career where she looks after people and she feels she's constantly failing. That guilt is huge - and when God comes to her and says he forgives her, that's heaven to her. "The pandemic's been really tough for everyone in this field.... [like them] Maud's just a person who wants to get things right." Despite Cineworld announcing the temporary closure of all its cinemas in the UK, Saint Maud will be released in cinemas this Friday - and the film has received critical acclaim since it first premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2019. The Daily Mirror called its debut full-length feature film writer and director, Rose Glass, "the new mistress of horror", while Esquire magazine said of the movie, "forget Tenet - British horror Saint Maud is the film that should tempt you back into cinemas". Glass describes the positive reviews as "heartening - as I take it that means they get Maud as a character; she's a bit of a weirdo". "I've always been interested in psychology and its crossover with religion - what leads people to do violent things. The kind of films I'm interested in aren't always pure horror, but they tap into the macabre, messed up side of life." Maud's job involves giving palliative care to Amanda (played by Pride and Prejudice's Jennifer Ehle), a terminally ill woman who has had a successful artistic career. Glass explains that originally Maud was going to be a novice nun, "but I felt that was too clichéd, and I started to think of what the modern equivalent of a saint might be, and that was a care-giver. "It was also originally going to be just Maud hearing the voice of God, but then I got more curious about her relationship with Amanda. I didn't consciously choose for them to be two women, but a lot of the films I like do involve two people losing their minds in a confined space." The director also wonders whether, after lockdown, "more people can see Maud moping around in her bedsit and empathise with the angst and weirdness of it". Clark, who has enjoyed success in theatre as well as films including Armando Iannucci's The Personal History of David Copperfield, worries there could be many lonely and isolated young people, who like Maud, are unseen. "I feel that for me there have been lots of opportunities where maybe someone would not have forgiven me, or I could have behaved worse, or just not replied to something, or even ended up in a different city, and my life would not have turned out this way. That was me being lucky enough to have security around me and meet lovely people. "With all of us, there are lots of parallel lives and we are much more similar to Maud than we might expect. For me, I feel mine's very close, and the horror of the film for me was definitely her loneliness and how real that is. The hyper-connection of this world makes it even more painful for her." Saint Maud is tipped for the 2021 Bafta nominations, and Clark hopes the move towards greater diversity will be reflected in the film industry. "The more we make film-making accessible to everyone, the more interesting stories we get to tell. I really feel that with something like Armando's colour-inclusive version of David Copperfield, that's how period pieces should always be cast now. "I feel very lucky to come along now, because a lot of people have been doing a lot of battling for someone like me to find life rather nice." Saint Maud is released in UK Cinemas on 9 October 2020. Follow us on Facebook or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

वेल्श अभिनेत्री मॉर्फिड क्लार्क ने कोविड-19 महामारी के दौरान स्वास्थ्य कार्यकर्ताओं की भलाई के लिए अपनी चिंता साझा करते हुए कहा है, "परिस्थितियों का मतलब है कि आप पर्याप्त नहीं कर सकते हैं, जबकि एक नायक कहा जा रहा है, यह बहुत कठिन है।"


Celebrity parents and the bizarre 'cheating' scandal

Summary: A network of affluent parents were this week accused of using audacious practices to secure their children places at elite US universities. What exactly is alleged?

By Vicky BakerBBC News, Washington "What we do is we help the wealthiest families in America get their kids into school." It was quite the mission statement. The words were spoken by the alleged kingpin of United States' biggest ever university admissions scam, William "Rick" Singer, according to prosecutors. He was making a pitch to a potential client, a wealthy New York lawyer, explaining the ways to get his child into a prestigious university. There were the normal channels - which rich people did not want to be "messing around with", he said. And then there was the back door and the side door. The back door necessitated contributing to "institutional advancement" - ie family connections or a multi-million-dollar donation, such as funding a new building, which is all legal. But the side door - the one that Singer had his foot jammed in and has drawn the attention of the authorities - was more accessible. He could guarantee success, he said. All you had to do was make a "financial commitment". The revelations On Tuesday, reams of FBI documents were unsealed from "Operation Varsity Blues", an investigation named after a 1990s film about the pressures of sports scholarships. The case looked at a period between 2011 and 2018, when, according to the authorities, $25m in bribes were paid by people looking to sneak around the usual university admittance process. Fifty people - including 33 parents and various sports coaches - were indicted. "I have never seen anything like this," Lenore Pearlstein, publisher of Insight Into Diversity magazine, which is dedicated to making higher education and business more inclusive in the US. "The depth of it, the number of people involved, the amounts of money. It's mindboggling." It feels like a "slap in the face" for those genuinely trying to make change, she told the BBC. Among the most jaw-dropping revelations was the alleged involvement of Hollywood actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin. "Ruh roh!" as Huffman might say. The authorities alleged the star of TV series Desperate Housewives using this Scooby Do expression in email exchanges with Singer. According to the FBI, she was responding to news - in October 2017 - that her daughter's school wanted to use their own exam invigilator, rather than a compromised one who would be able to boost her scores. She allegedly emailed her concerns to Mr Singer. "We will speak about it," he reportedly replied. The architect Rick Singer, a Californian life coach in his late 50s, presented himself as an expert in the university admissions process. He wrote books about it, including the self-published Getting In: Gaining Admission to Your College of Choice, which opened with an inspirational quote from Nelson Mandela. However, he kept his more illicit techniques within a closer circle. The FBI has traced his scam back to 2011. It is not known if this was a particular turning point in his three-decade career. In 2014, he founded a non-profit organisation called Key Worldwide, which claimed to help "disadvantaged students around the world". The website said it would "open doors" for young people escaping troubles such as gang violence. However, according to the authorities, the organisation functioned as a slush fund. It became a façade through which payments could be funnelled as "charity donations". Singer pocketed some of the cash and paid the rest in bribes to those who could help him get the results he guaranteed. Over time he had developed two possible paths to success. One would involve manipulating exam results. The other would involve securing special treatment - most typically via faked sporting prowess. According to the FBI, the two Hollywood actresses went down separate routes. Huffman, Macy and the 'exam plot' The authorities claim that Felicity Huffman knew she needed to send her oldest daughter to a specific exam centre in West Hollywood to follow the plan. Hence the "ruh-roh" when it nearly went wrong. Singer had connections there. It is alleged that he would typically suggest his clients faked learning disabilities for their children and then, once they got a medical certificate, they would be granted extra time and could make a more believable case for switching to external exam centre. Huffman had allegedly already secured 100% extra time for her daughter's SAT (college entrance) exam. It is unclear how. Apparently, this was not enough. The next step involved bringing in someone else to take the test for her. Singer often used the services of a man called Mark Riddell. He was in his mid-30s, an ex-tennis professional, and the director of college entrance exam preparation at a boarding school in Florida. According to the FBI, he would fly in, take the test for students in a hotel room, or sneak them the correct answers in the exam room, or inflate their scores when they finished. Sometimes he would be given a sample of the teen's handwriting so he could copy it. Riddell did not know the questions in advance, according to Andrew Lelling, US attorney for the District of Massachusetts. He was "just a really smart guy". It is not yet known how Huffman first came into contact with Singer. In 2017, he visited the Los Angeles home she shares with her long-term partner, William H Macy, the star of Shameless and Fargo, the court documents say. The couple - who met in the early 80s and married in 1997 - are not usually caught in negative headlines. Macy's hobbies reportedly include woodturning and playing the ukulele, while Huffman has been running a wholesome parenting site, What The Flicka, based on her childhood nickname. They have been known to post loving messages to each other on social media. Early on Tuesday morning, FBI agents turned up at their door. Only Huffman was indicted. The crime she stands accused of relates to mail fraud, which is when communication methods are used to conduct a scheme that intentionally deprives another of property or honest services. Macy has not been charged. Neither has commented publicly. The couple made a $15,000 payment to the Key Worldwide Foundation for their older daughter's exam scheme, according to court documents. In an art-mirrors-life twist, it was the exact same amount that Huffman's character in Desperate Housewives had paid to a headmaster in an episode about corrupt schools admissions. In real life, her older daughter's exam score jumped 400 points - a huge leap - after Singer's involvement, it is claimed. If those claims are proven, Huffman and Macy appear to have secured a bargain. Many people paid hundreds of thousands for Singer's help. He usually paid $10,000 to the surrogate test-taker alone. The sports scam Academic manipulation was only one side of this story, and the alleged sports scam was even more outrageous. Singer was taking students with no prowess, and turning them into sporting stars on their applications, it is claimed. In some cases he would arrange for their heads to be Photoshopped on to more sporty bodies. In others, their basic stats would be manipulated - one basketball player had his height changed from 5ft 5in to 6ft 1in, presumably betting on a once-you're-in-you're-in outcome. Police found their first strong piece of evidence of this scheme during a wiretapped encounter in a hotel room in Boston, Massachusetts, according to the Boston Globe. The newspaper says that investigators had been working on an entirely different story - alleged fraud in the stock market - when they received an unexpected tip. A financial executive told them a sports coach from Yale University, Rudolph "Rudy" Meredith, asked for a bribe to help the businessman's daughter gain admittance to the Ivy League school. The executive agreed to wear a recording device and meet Meredith, who then offered to designate the young woman as a member of his soccer team. Meredith - as well as Singer and Riddell - have been working with the police, hoping to reduce their sentences. Sports bring in such huge amounts of money and prestige to US universities that they will often lower academic requirements to bring in new talent. "Student athletes often have excellent leadership qualities and excel both in the classroom and on the field, recognising that makes sense for colleges looking for the best students," says Eric Yaverbaum, author of Life's Little College Admissions Insights. "The hard work it requires to be a student athlete is what makes the fact that some of these parents took advantage of this route so disturbing. It's appalling that some parents and coaches betrayed those students by buying and selling those coveted positions." The daughters of Full House actress Lori Loughlin and fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli were not outstanding sportswomen. However, the couple allegedly spent $500,000 to get them into University of Southern California by presenting them as accomplished rowers. They have not commented since the charge were filed. After getting her place, their youngest daughter, Olivia Jade, made matters worse by bragging online, saying she would rather be concentrating on her Instagram career. She is an influencer and has 1.3 million followers. "I don't know how much of school I'm gonna attend but I'm gonna go in and talk to my deans and everyone, and hope that I can try and balance it all," she said on her YouTube channel. "But I do want the experience of like game days, partying… I don't really care about school, as you guys all know." She has since apologised for her comments, but the backlash has been huge. It is not clear how much any of the children knew about the alleged plots. According to the court documents, some were involved, at least to a certain degree, while others were in the dark. "[The entire scandal] is a perfect example of the entitlement that comes with wealth and privilege," adds author Eric Yaverbaum. "We knew the system was unfair (after all, wealthy parents can pay for multiple test retakes and expensive tutoring, and the wealthiest can pledge large donations to a school just as their children are applying), but we didn't know wealthy parents were taking it even further. In either case, it only reiterates the need for the admissions process to be re-evaluated." In recent days, the US media has uncovered that Loughlin's Full House character, Aunt Becky, was also involved in a school cheating story - perhaps indicating just how common the idea is, at least in theory. In real life, however, the story unfolding in the news has outdone the scriptwriters. Though the focus may have been on the two actresses so far, the rest of the cast of real-life characters is almost as intriguing. Other parents indicted include a self-help author, a casino operator and a Napa Valley vineyard owner. One of the many questions outstanding is - who will play whom in the inevitable TV adaptation?

अमीर माता-पिता के एक नेटवर्क पर इस सप्ताह आरोप लगाया गया था कि वे अपने बच्चों को कुलीन अमेरिकी विश्वविद्यालयों में जगह दिलाने के लिए दुस्साहसी प्रथाओं का उपयोग कर रहे हैं। वास्तव में क्या आरोप लगाया गया है?


Funding for St Austell building plan secured

Summary: Almost £1.7m is being invested in a Cornish town to help redevelop two buildings.

The properties in St Austell are on High Cross Street and Cross Lane. Cornwall's Convergence Partnership said the redevelopment would create six new jobs when solicitors, Stephens and Scown moved into the buildings. The European Regional Development Fund is providing £944,000 of funding, with property investors D B Gilbert contributing £753,000.

दो इमारतों के पुनर्विकास में मदद करने के लिए एक कॉर्निश शहर में लगभग 17 लाख पाउंड का निवेश किया जा रहा है।


Vegan YouTube 'drama': 'I was falsely accused of offering online sex'

Summary: Anna Scanlon became immersed in the online world of veganism. But when she was critical of another vlogger, he started posting videos about her - and after getting little relief from social media websites, Anna sued for defamation.

BBC TrendingGoing in-depth on social media "At one point I Googled myself and I got the result 'Anna Scanlon offers sex.' I threw up." For Anna Scanlon, it was a nightmarish twist on what had once been a positive addition to her online life. After moving to Milton Keynes from California in 2012, she found video making not only a way to update friends and family on her new life, but an introduction to a whole new community. "When I moved to the UK I didn't know anyone," she says, "so YouTube became a great outlet to be able to interact with people on a daily basis." Anna, now 34, became immersed in her studies - a PhD in Holocaust History at the University of Leicester - as well as her YouTube channel. At about the same time she decided to turn vegan, motivated both by a desire to lose weight and also for ethical reasons. Her vlogging increasingly covered vegan issues - and soon she became a target for another vegan blogger. YouTube drama Vegan Cheetah, whose real name is Charles Marlowe-Cremedas, is a popular vegan vlogger. He lives in California and he built his channel, which has 37,000 subscribers on YouTube, by engaging in debates about veganism. Like in other subcultures, arguments in the vegan world are often fractious and - for those outside the subculture - often tediously detailed. Vegans argue back and forth about questions like whether it's OK to date non-vegans, or keep pets, and a host of other issues. You may also be interested in: The Vegan Cheetah channel included "drama" videos - a particular and hugely popular YouTube genre which catalogues gossip and rumours, often about other YouTubers or celebrities. Anna watched his videos. Initially she saw the appeal. "He was saying something that a lot of people in the community resonated with," she says. But soon, she claims, Vegan Cheetah ran out of original ideas and his channel "just became bashing individual vegans." Anna posted criticism of Charles in a private Facebook group, but somehow the drama vlogger got wind of it and began making drama videos - about Anna. He claimed that Anna called him on Skype, exposed herself to him, and started performing sexual acts on camera - all things which Anna says "never happened." It culminated in a four-hour broadcast on another video site, YouNow. Charles repeated the allegations and encouraged people to join in a live-streaming conversation. More on this story "I did confront him asking him to retract his statement, but as it went on I think he really enjoyed the attention that he got from saying these things," Anna says. "His audience loved it and joined in." "It was very shocking to me because it had no basis in reality," she says of the claims. "I felt disgusted, at that point I thought about taking legal action." In April 2017 she did just that, and filed a defamation suit in California. Charles Marlowe-Cremedas declined to comment for this story, but in court filings he has denied Anna's allegations. Until recently, he continued to make a series of reaction videos insulting Anna and saying that the lawsuit "doesn't scare me." Anna says that initially YouTube and YouNow took no action, even though she reported Vegan Cheetah's videos. "I sent YouNow several emails," she says "they didn't even respond." "Social media companies could do a lot better especially when it comes to protecting the safety of people online," she says. "If they have somebody who is constantly reporting incidents then maybe it might be better to actually look into it and talk to people and actually take reporting seriously instead of just glossing over it." Visit BBC Trending on Facebook In a statement, YouTube told BBC Trending: "We have clear rules and policies against bullying and hateful speech and we enforce these policies. Our broadcasts are monitored 24/7, and any user who is reported is quickly disciplined." YouNow said in a statement: "We have strict policies against inappropriate behaviour, harassment and illegal activities. 24/7 live moderators respond to any issue flagged by the community or detected by our automated systems." After Anna filed her lawsuit, Marlowe-Cremedas was suspended from YouNow. His YouTube channel is still online, however recently most of his old videos were taken down. Court case After initially refusing to respond to the legal action, Charles filed a response to Anna's lawsuit in May, 13 months after the lawsuit was originally filed. A trial is now pending. "I think one of the positives is that people have seen that they can speak up for themselves," Anna says. "I hope this gives people some hope that the internet will be a bit of a safer place." If you've been affected by this story, there are resources and links available from BBC Action Line Do you have a story for us? Email BBC Trending. You can follow BBC Trending on Twitter @BBCtrending, and find us on Facebook. All our stories are at bbc.com/trending.

एना स्कैनलॉन शाकाहार की ऑनलाइन दुनिया में डूबी हुई थी। लेकिन जब वह एक और व्लॉगर की आलोचना कर रही थी, तो उसने उसके बारे में वीडियो पोस्ट करना शुरू कर दिया-और सोशल मीडिया वेबसाइटों से थोड़ी राहत मिलने के बाद, एना ने मानहानि का मुकदमा दायर किया।


Oscars 2020: How diverse are the Oscars?

Summary: The South Korean film Parasite has made Oscar history by becoming the the first non-English language film to win best picture. Bong Joon-Ho also won best director for the film but its overall success - it won four awards - hasn't silenced the critics who have highlighted the lack of diversity in this year's Oscar categories.

By Reality Check teamBBC News There were no women nominated in the best director category - Greta Gerwig missed out as director of Little Women, meaning that her nomination for Lady Bird in 2018 was the only one for a female director in the last 10 years. There have only been five women nominated as best director in the awards' 92-year history with only one winner: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker in 2010. In the directing category, there were no women nominated in either the Golden Globes or the Baftas this year. Florence Pugh, who was nominated in the best supporting actress category for her role as Amy in Little Women, told BBC News: "It is sad... but the very fact that last year we had more female writers and directors than ever and we're still coming up against it is quite an obvious problem. But we're talking about it, and hopefully it's changing." It is worth noting that Greta Gerwig was nominated for best adapted screenplay for Little Women and the film was nominated for best picture. "What makes it so shocking is that I've seen more inspiring films made by women in 2019 that in any other year that I've been a critic," Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, chief film critic for Metro, told Reality Check. "I find that dispiriting and I hope it's not disheartening for women film-makers." What about actors? In the acting categories, Cynthia Erivo was the only non-white nominee. She was up for best actress in a leading role for playing the title role in Harriet, a film about a slave who became an abolitionist. The category was won by Renee Zellweger for her portrayal of Judy Garland. In 2019, three of the four acting categories were won by non-white actors: Rami Malek, Mahershala Ali and Regina King. Olivia Colman won the fourth for her performance in The Favourite. We have looked through all the nominations in the last 10 years, and of the 200 nominees in the four acting categories, there have been 26 non-white actors recognised, with seven of them winning their categories. The #OscarsSoWhite hashtag began being used in 2015 and 2016, when there were no non-white nominees in the acting categories for two years in a row. The Academy said it had taken steps to have a more diverse membership in 2016, but many users tweeted the hashtag again following the announcement of the 2020 nominees. The US film critic Kristy Puchko used it when suggesting that Lupita Nyong'o should have been nominated this year for her performance in Us, although she also said the Academy tended not to like horror films. Ms Nyong'o won an Oscar in 2014 for 12 Years a Slave. This piece was originally published on 13 January, at the time of the Oscar nominations. It has been updated to reflect the Oscar results. What claims do you want BBC Reality Check to investigate? Get in touch Read more from Reality Check Follow us on Twitter

दक्षिण कोरियाई फिल्म पैरासाइट ने सर्वश्रेष्ठ फिल्म जीतने वाली पहली गैर-अंग्रेजी भाषा की फिल्म बनकर ऑस्कर इतिहास रच दिया है। बोंग जून-हो ने भी फिल्म के लिए सर्वश्रेष्ठ निर्देशक का पुरस्कार जीता लेकिन इसकी समग्र सफलता-इसने चार पुरस्कार जीते-ने उन आलोचकों को चुप नहीं कराया जिन्होंने इस साल के ऑस्कर श्रेणियों में विविधता की कमी को उजागर किया है।


Isle of Man ferry: Lancashire sailings resume

Summary: Ferry sailings between the Isle of Man and Lancashire have resumed after Friday night's services were cancelled due to strong winds over the Irish Sea.

The Ben-my-Chree's 08:45 BST crossing from Douglas to Heysham departed almost an hour later than originally scheduled because of the conditions. Its return journey was expected to begin on time at 14:15, an Isle of Man Steam Packet Company spokeswoman said. Friday evening's trips were cancelled as gales of up to 60mph (97km/h) hit. There are no current restrictions on Manx residents leaving or returning to the island, but non-residents need special permission to enter. Why not follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and Twitter? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk

आयरिश सागर में तेज हवाओं के कारण शुक्रवार रात की सेवाओं को रद्द करने के बाद आइल ऑफ मैन और लंकाशायर के बीच नौका यात्रा फिर से शुरू हो गई है।


Coronavirus: Caerphilly's first week in lockdown

Summary: People in the only local authority area in Wales to be put into local lockdown are beginning their second week of restrictions. From cancelled appointments to staycations within the county, people in one Caerphilly county village describe what the past week has been like for them.

By Nelli BirdBBC News People in Caerphilly had become accustomed to restrictions being gradually eased, but a spike in Covid-19 cases saw the area revert to rules not dissimilar to those imposed at the height of the nation-wide lockdown. The restrictions, which include not being able to leave the county without good reason or meet people from other households indoors, will be in place until at least October. The Welsh Government said since the new measures were introduced, formal enforcement action had only been necessary on rare occasions as the vast majority of people had understood why the measures were "so important". Businesses owners in Bedwas said they felt the impact as soon as the lockdown was announced. 'Fifty cancellations' Janine Christopher, who owns Million Hair in the village, said: "As soon as this started again, people decided it was too much of a risk [to visit a hairdressers] - a lot of them hadn't come back anyway. "The next day I probably had about 50 cancellations, so the business has hit the floor again. But we're doing the best we can. "I tried to save a bit of money to make sure we can carry on, but the High Street has been dead." She said her father had had an operation in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, and not being able to visit him had been "a bit scary". Xiaojian Liu runs the Bedwas general store with his wife Fang. He said despite the signs they have put up to outline the rules, people still forget. "Sometimes we have to keep asking the customers - 'wear your mask please' and tell them 'only three customers at one time.' "So we feel a little bit frustrated. Most people are still not used to it - most wear masks, they know from the TV, newspapers - but some are still not used to it. "Most people say 'I forgot, I'm sorry'." On Monday morning, there were plenty of people in and out of the shops and businesses on Church Street - the main road through the village. Mother and son Linda and Gareth Kedward were among them. "I don't think much has changed," said Ms Kedward. "There's still a lot of people around, there's still people not listening. "And mixed messages from the government - it's changing every other day. You don't know if you're doing right for doing wrong. "One of the most frustrating things is not being able to spend time with your loved ones," said her son. "You can go and meet them outside, but at least with your own family, you know where they've been and what they've been doing. "You have far more trust in those as opposed to going into a shop and you've got people pushing past you." With people in the county told they cannot go on holiday, some have chosen to take a break closer to home. Under the Oak Glamping, run by husband and wife Richard and Lydia Watts, had to cancel its 25 bookings from outside of the county, missing out on about £12,000 in revenue. So now they have switched their attention to attracting local business. "We'd heard some people in the area had had their holidays cancelled, so we wondered if a few people might be interested in coming here instead - and we were inundated," said Mrs Watts. "The furthest people are coming from is the Blackwood area - we've had people coming who are literally five minutes' drive away. It's nice to be connecting to the local community. " Caerphilly's Member of the Senedd Hefin David said he felt people had been coming together to get through it. "I don't think this is about blaming people, but finding that community spirit we had through that first lockdown and to find that spirit that we had to enable us to get this under control," he said. "Everything I've seen is that people are making incredible efforts to do that."

वेल्स के एकमात्र स्थानीय प्राधिकरण क्षेत्र में लोग जिन्हें स्थानीय लॉकडाउन में रखा गया है, वे प्रतिबंधों के अपने दूसरे सप्ताह की शुरुआत कर रहे हैं। रद्द की गई नियुक्तियों से लेकर काउंटी के भीतर ठहरने तक, एक कैर्फिली काउंटी गांव के लोग बताते हैं कि पिछले सप्ताह उनके लिए कैसा रहा है।


HMP Northumberland: Inside the 'powder keg' prison

Summary: A report into HMP Northumberland has found safety at the prison has deteriorated in the past two years. BBC News was allowed to visit the prison, described by some as a "powder keg" , to assess how bad things were.

By Robert CooperBBC News A "very tough three years" was how outgoing director Matt Spencer describes his time at HMP Northumberland. The category C prison has seen some major changes in his time at the helm and has come in for some serious criticism. Following privatisation to French firm Sodexo just over a year ago - and losing more than a third of its staff - there have been a series of assaults and disturbances at the jail. Last month a former officer at the prison told BBC News that, although violence had always gone on at the jail, it had increased since privatisation. The chief inspector of prisons, Nick Hardwick, has repeatedly linked staff cuts across the system to a rise in violence and suicides. But Mr Spencer, who has now left the prison, maintained this was not a factor at HMP Northumberland. "All prisons have incidents, so we did have incidents before Sodexo won the contract," Mr Spencer said, sitting in his office over a cup of coffee with incoming director Tony Simpson. "I think it's true to say that the number of incidents in almost all prisons up and down the country, public or private, have increased to some extent." He said "resources" had been a factor in this, but insisted his jail had "appropriate" staffing levels and attributed some of the problems to the circulation of a drug called "spice". Recently released figures showed discoveries of spice in prisons had spiralled in recent years, with the justice secretary indicating a link to increased violence. Mr Spencer also argued people were now more aware of incidents that take place at the jail because of increased media scrutiny. The inspection report released on Tuesday found the prison had a high number of violent incidents and prisoners felt unsafe. There had been three suicides since the previous inspection in 2012, but inspectors said support for prisoners in crisis was good. Spice - what is it? Source: Drugscope Mr Spencer took over England's most northerly jail when it was two separate establishments, a category C men's prison and a young offender's institution. This is evident from the sheer size of the site - about 4 sq miles (6.4 sq km) by Mr Spencer's reckoning. The old front gate to HMP Acklington, the former adult prison, is still visible in the middle of the grounds. The one-time RAF airfield sits amid miles of Northumberland countryside, a challenge for visiting families of prisoners, some of whom come from more than 200 miles away. Last year the Howard League for Penal Reform found officer numbers in public sector prisons had gone down by two fifths since 2010, a period of significant budget cuts to the Ministry of Justice. Sodexo has had to review its staffing levels at HMP Northumberland and hired 27 new officers after the initial layoffs. The atmosphere was relaxed in a wing for vulnerable inmates, where prisoners played pool and bantered with an experienced officer. He said his approach was to establish a relationship with them. Those who passed him in the corridor spoke to him with respect. However, the officer, who did not give his name, said he did not think the training regime for new staff was as good as that previously provided by the Prison Service. The cells were reminiscent of university halls, relatively small but comfortable, and decorated with inmates' personal effects. The guard said these cells, which had en suite bathrooms, were of a better standard than elsewhere on the site. Another wing had a more classic prison look, with multiple balconies overlooking a central atrium, which had a mesh fixed across it to prevent people jumping. A couple of new recruits were on duty in this block. One told BBC News it was his first job since leaving school. Critics have said the new staff are inexperienced compared to those who left. Mr Spencer said he was pleased with the new officers and that the average level of experience at the jail had only gone down slightly - from 18 years' service to 17. He also argued improvements had been made. "One of the things that really appealed to the Ministry of Justice about the Sodexo bid for this prison was the working prisons element," he said. In an old RAF hangar that is now the jail's engineering workshop, Mr Spencer explained how prisoners were making machine parts for Nissan's Sunderland plant - apparently a fruit of Sodexo's contacts in the Chambers of Commerce. The busy textiles workshop now had twice as many prisoners working in it as a year ago, Mr Spencer said, with inmates across the jail working 40% more hours than before privatisation. But the latest inspection report has found there is not enough purposeful activity at the jail and not enough activity places, with almost a third of prisoners locked up through the day. It did, though, find there were "credible plans" to remedy this. Mr Spencer's successor Mr Simpson has come from a maximum-security Sodexo prison in West Lothian, HMP Addiewell, which was purpose-built as a private prison and has not experienced the transitions HMP Northumberland has. For him, one of the biggest challenges will be dealing with the scrutiny the prison has come under. Mr Simpson said: "I totally respect the public's right to have an interest in what happens in prisons. I get that. I'm used to that." But he described some of the language used as "unhelpful", arguing it affects people's confidence within the jail. Sodexo said it welcomed the feedback from the report and that it had formed an action plan to address the issues raised. Mr Simpson's next challenge will be to see through the necessary changes so that the next inspection will be more favourable.

एच. एम. पी. नॉर्थम्बरलैंड की एक रिपोर्ट में पाया गया है कि पिछले दो वर्षों में जेल में सुरक्षा बिगड़ गई है। बीबीसी न्यूज़ को जेल जाने की अनुमति दी गई थी, जिसे कुछ लोगों ने "पाउडर केग" के रूप में वर्णित किया था, ताकि यह आकलन किया जा सके कि चीजें कितनी खराब थीं।


Australia prepares for 'dangerous' bushfire season

Summary: As Australia prepares for another horror bushfire season, experts are warning that some areas of the country are becoming uninhabitable because of the increased risk of fire and that worse-than-normal seasons are becoming the norm.

By Saffron HowdenSydney, Australia And one of the country's top firefighters has warned that the loss of homes was now inescapable as climate change drives more frequent and fiercer blazes. Hot, dry conditions in the lead up to summer have increased the likelihood of "very high fire danger weather" in the nation's most populous state, New South Wales, according to a new report from independent research body the Climate Council. Last year was Australia's hottest on record and last summer was the driest that Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, had experienced for almost 30 years. The Climate Council predicts the total economic cost of bush fires in NSW - where the current bushfire season began two months early - will be A$43m ($37m, £24m) in 2014. Across Australia, they already cost upwards of A$337m each year and by the middle of the century, this is expected to rise to around A$800m annually. The concept of a "normal" fire season was redundant and people had to accept that property losses were now inevitable, said Fire and Rescue NSW Commissioner Greg Mullins. "We're getting better and better technology but it can't keep pace," Mr Mullins said. "We treat every summer now as worst-case scenario. On [catastrophic fire weather warning] days, there's basically nothing we can do except save lives by getting information out there." Homes that have not been properly prepared will be left to their fate by firefighters who must consider their own safety first, he warned. Mr Mullins also said that the men and women who fight to control and extinguish bush fires have been experiencing the impact of climate change first hand. "We don't care what the debate [about climate change] is, we see it," he said. Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of bush fires, said Professor Lesley Hughes, a councillor on the Climate Council. "What climate change is doing is increasing the risk of fire danger weather," she said. "We're looking at a particularly hot and dry and dangerous season again." 'Uninhabitable' This month, the Winmalee community in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney marked the one year anniversary of the devastating fires that blazed through the small community and surrounds, destroying almost 200 homes and thousands of hectares of bushland. These kinds of fires will become increasingly prevalent, said Prof Hughes, who launches the Climate Council report in the Blue Mountains on Tuesday. "The community suffered enormously last year," she said. Eventually, she said, some areas of Australia will become uninhabitable due to increased bushfire risks and other natural disasters made worse by climate change, such as floods and coastal erosion. "One of the things that will drive the depopulation of certain areas will be insurance. If you can't insure [your house], it's basically valueless," she added. Benign fire seasons are expected to be the exception, rather than the norm, in the future, the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) said. In its seasonal bushfire outlook for 2014, the CRC noted: "The concept of an average or normal fire season becomes less meaningful as historical, long-term averages are surpassed by fire seasons that are regularly above average in either duration, area burnt, or in the total number of fires." This year, the conditions have been ripe for a season of above "normal" fire for large parts of southern Australia. High temperatures are expected to combine with below average rainfall since May across most of Queensland, northern and eastern NSW, northern South Australia and large parts of south west Western Australia, according to CRC chief executive Dr Richard Thornton. "The forests are very dry and will continue to dry out during the coming warmer days and months. Most of our major capital cities in mainland Australia are the areas that are at risk, this year." The CRC expects that only South Australia and Tasmania are expected to experience a "normal" fire season, this summer.

जैसे-जैसे ऑस्ट्रेलिया एक और भयावह जंगल की आग के मौसम की तैयारी कर रहा है, विशेषज्ञ चेतावनी दे रहे हैं कि देश के कुछ क्षेत्र आग के बढ़ते जोखिम के कारण निर्जन हो रहे हैं और सामान्य से भी बदतर मौसम सामान्य हो रहे हैं।


Ardoyne parade mediators unable to broker deal

Summary: A group trying to resolve the dispute over contentious parades in north Belfast say they have not been able to broker a deal, so are ending discussions for a while.

The row over an Orange feeder parade that makes its way past the Ardoyne shops has in recent years led to serious disturbances on the 12th July. Three mediators, former Stormont Speaker Lord Alderdice and clergymen, Rev Norman Hamilton and Fr Gary Donegan have been exploring the scope for a peaceful solution. In a statement the mediators claim to have made significant progress and to have considered imaginative and positive proposals. However they admit that no agreement has been reached, and say they are ending their discussions for the time being as a ruling from the Parades Commission is now imminent. The mediators say they hope the local communities find ways of ensuring the next few weeks pass off peacefully.

उत्तरी बेलफास्ट में विवादास्पद परेड पर विवाद को हल करने की कोशिश कर रहे एक समूह का कहना है कि वे एक सौदा करने में सक्षम नहीं हैं, इसलिए कुछ समय के लिए चर्चा समाप्त कर रहे हैं।


Haqqanis: Growth of a militant network

Summary: US officials have blamed co-ordinated attacks in Kabul on the Haqqani militant network. The Haqqanis have grown from a CIA-backed anti-Soviet group into one of the most feared anti-Western militant organisations in the region, writes the BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad.

The so-called Haqqani network of militants has been blamed for several high profile attacks against Western, Indian and government targets in Afghanistan. It is often described by Pakistani officials as a predominantly Afghan militant group. But its roots reach deep inside Pakistani territory, and speculation over its links to some powerful quarters within the Pakistani security establishment refuse to die down. The leader of the group, Jalaluddin Haqqani, is a Jadran tribesman from Afghanistan's Paktia province. He owns properties in the neighbouring North Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan. North Waziristan was the base from where he organised raids against the former Soviet troops that occupied Afghanistan in 1980s. American officials admit that Mr Haqqani was a prized asset of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) back then. He was also one of the favourite commanders of Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) that decided which commander should get how much international funds and equipment to fight the Soviets. Many in the West and Pakistan believe he is still an asset of the ISI, though the Pakistani military denies this. They say the outreach of the Haqqanis would be far too limited without the material, tactical and logistical support of powerful elements in Pakistan. But in a recent interview with the BBC, Jalaluddin Haqqani's son and its current leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, has said there have "never been contacts by intelligence agencies of other countries (including Pakistan) which could be effective for us". Bombing campaign A late convert to Taliban, Mr Haqqani was one of their top leaders to undertake a last official visit to Islamabad in late 2001, at about the time as the US started to bomb Afghanistan. Mr Haqqani disappeared in Islamabad, and resurfaced several months later in the Waziristan region where he is credited with carving out the first base of militant resistance against Western forces in the most recent conflict in Afghanistan. To this day, militants operating out of this base have inflicted more damage than any other group on Western troops in Afghanistan. The more lethal of these militants are the Pakistani fighters, called Punjabi Taliban by locals in Waziristan, and the so-called foreign fighters of Arab and central Asian origin. These fighters constitute the bulk of Haqqani network's fighting force. The growing strength of Waziristan-based militants is seen as having turned the tide against the Americans in Afghanistan in recent years. Waziristan is seen as the source of Taliban resistance in Kunar and Ningarhar provinces in the north-east of the country, and in the southern militant strongholds of Zabul, Kandahar and Helmand. When the Americans started their bombing campaign in Afghanistan in late October 2001, thousands of Arab and Central Asian fighters started to pour into South Waziristan. Some half-hearted attempts by the Pakistani army to check this influx led to a violent conflict in the Wana region of South Waziristan in 2002, and again in 2004. More than 700 Pakistani soldiers were killed in those clashes. Subsequently, Pakistanis backed down and allowed militant groups to establish deeper roots there. By 2006, several local militant groups had emerged across the whole of South Waziristan and North Waziristan, converting the entire area into a virtual no-go zone for Pakistani officials. Civilian targets Based in different geographical locations within the region, these groups had different, sometimes conflicting, aims and agendas. Some of these groups signed peace deals with the Pakistani army, which still hold. Others were hostile to it and conducted violent campaigns against government and civilian targets in Pakistani cities and towns. But all groups were largely under the influence of the Haqqanis, and like them, professed allegiance to Mullah Omar, the Taliban's spiritual leader. Jalaluddin Haqqani's son, Sirajuddin, was the chief negotiator who united various clans of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe in Wana region of South Waziristan in 2006. He is also believed to have been instrumental in persuading Baitullah Mehsud, the anti-Pakistan militant commander based in eastern parts of South Waziristan, to negotiate peace with the Pakistani forces in 2005 and again in 2008. While these peace deals did not hold, collaboration between the Haqqanis and Mehsud's TTP group continued. They were both blamed for organising a December 2009 suicide attack in Khost province of Afghanistan in which seven CIA operatives were killed. There is evidence that some top members of the Haqqani network have also been operating in the Pakistani mainland, away from their sanctuary in the Waziristan region. Between 2008 and 2011, two brothers of Jalaluddin Haqqani, along with some other leaders of the group, have been trying to negotiate peace between the TTP - now headed by Hakimullah Mehsud - and the Shia Turi tribe of the Kurram tribal region. At least three rounds of talks have so far been held in Peshawar, the capital of the north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and in Islamabad. This serves as an indication of the extent to which the Haqqanis can influence and shape the militant scene in Pakistan and the freedom with which they can move both within the semi-autonomous tribal areas and the Pakistani and Afghan mainlands.

अमेरिकी अधिकारियों ने काबुल में समन्वित हमलों के लिए हक्कानी आतंकवादी नेटवर्क को दोषी ठहराया है। हक्कानी सी. आई. ए. समर्थित सोवियत विरोधी समूह से इस क्षेत्र में सबसे खतरनाक पश्चिमी विरोधी आतंकवादी संगठनों में से एक बन गए हैं, इस्लामाबाद में बी. बी. सी. के एम. इलियास खान लिखते हैं।


A community's tales

Summary: By their very nature, portrait photographs are silent, mute, allowing the viewer to layer on their own meaning and even to conjure up the personality of the sitter. One photographer, Damian Drohan is tackling this by creating a sound-portrait, which is simply an audio recording of the subject shown alongside their portrait. He has used the technique on his latest project that looks at residents of Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, Ireland, and here he explains what it is about this approach that appeals to him.

Phil CoomesPicture editor Richard Avedon once famously said: "All photographs are accurate - none of them are the truth." He recognised the limitations of the medium, or at least its descriptive abilities. He pushed the descriptive abilities to a level seldom, if ever surpassed. Is it better for the viewer of the portrait to be left in some doubt? Should the photographer's role end at describing with sensitivity and accuracy what someone looked like, under a particular set of circumstances? As a portrait photographer, or documentary portrait photographer, these are some of the "whys" which constantly play on my mind. Why large format? I tell myself that it's not an affectation, an expression of "scarcity thinking". I like to think the finer detail allows the viewer more time, and greater scrutiny of the person in front of them. The lines in their faces, creases in their clothes, how long since they shaved. The pace of the encounter is slow, and encourages a very intense gaze, on my part, the sitter's and hopefully the viewers'. My hope is that somewhere in that meeting, a record of the encounter will be formed. Why audio? It's the richness and timbre of the voice, or strength, or frailty or musicality. It's the wonderful surprise of an austere concurrence turning into a rich human encounter. The laughter, or bittersweet remembrance. In three out of five encounters there may be glimmers but no gems. And when I'm ready to give up on recording interviews, a tall, thin man, taciturn and reserved tells me how he met his soulmate at the age of 72, and about his 20 years religious service as a hermit and the daily meditation and inner silence which still accompany him. The local curate reveals a deep love of tattoos - he has 22. An accomplished artist tells how he walked the breadth of Waterford City, in a day, searching for the girl he wanted to ask out. They're simple, universal tales of love, loss, and ambition which have been generously shared. I love the mystery of a great portrait. I love to spend time poring over an Avedon, a Pyke. I love Alastair Thain's Goya-esque images of Marines. I also love, however, hearing the richness and nuance of a voice recalling a personal story, and when someone says: "I completely changed my mind about that man after hearing his interview, I always thought he was aloof." My hope is that people enjoy the portraits and that maybe, after listening to an interview they feel like they've sat for an intimate conversation with a stranger, and got to know them a little better. Image and audio, are the two synergistic? Not always. Hopefully they paint a slightly fuller portrait of the person, and leave the viewer with just enough questions. To bring the portraits to life head over to Damian Drohan's Soundportraits website or click the links below each portrait to go directly to their page. You can hear Eimear's story on the Soundportraits website. You can hear Barbara's story on the Soundportraits website. You can hear Richard's story on the Soundportraits website. You can hear Julie-Anne's story on the Soundportraits website.

अपने स्वभाव से, पोर्ट्रेट तस्वीरें मूक, मूक होती हैं, जिससे दर्शक अपने स्वयं के अर्थ पर परत कर सकते हैं और यहां तक कि बैठने वाले के व्यक्तित्व को भी जोड़ सकते हैं। एक फोटोग्राफर, डेमियन ड्रोहन एक ध्वनि-चित्र बनाकर इससे निपट रहे हैं, जो केवल उनके चित्र के साथ दिखाए गए विषय की एक ऑडियो रिकॉर्डिंग है। उन्होंने अपनी नवीनतम परियोजना पर तकनीक का उपयोग किया है जो कैरिक-ऑन-सुयर, काउंटी टिपेररी, आयरलैंड के निवासियों को देखती है और यहां वह बताते हैं कि इस दृष्टिकोण के बारे में क्या है जो उन्हें आकर्षित करता है।


Pakistan Asma Aziz: Wife who had 'head shaved for refusing to dance'

Summary: A Pakistani woman has publicly accused her husband of beating her and shaving her head for refusing to dance for him and his friends, in a case that has raised new concerns about women's safety in the country.

Asma Aziz, from Lahore, made headlines when she published a shocking video on social media showing her shaven head and bruised face. Her husband, Mian Faisal, and a servant are both in police custody. Mr Faisal has denied torture. However, the case has prompted calls for more to be done to protect women from domestic violence. In a tweet, Amnesty International said "systemic change" was necessary. In her video posted on 26 March, an emotional Ms Aziz alleged that two days earlier she was tortured after refusing to dance in front of her husband's friends who were at their house in Lahore's upmarket Defence Housing Authority (DHA) district. "He took my clothes off in front of his servants. The servants held me as he shaved my hair off and burned it. My clothes were bloody. I was bound by a pipe and hung from the fan. He threatened to hang me naked," she said. She said she went to the police to file a complaint but they procrastinated - the police deny the allegation, saying that immediately after Ms Aziz's visit to the police station a team was dispatched to her residence but it was found locked and the DHA management prevented them from entering the premises. Police acted only after the video came to the notice of Deputy Minister for Interior, Sheheryar Afridi, who ordered officers to register a complaint. Mr Faisal and the servant, Rashid Ali, were arrested the following day. A preliminary medical report found multiple bruises, swelling and redness on Ms Aziz's arms, cheeks and around her left eye. Ms Aziz's lawyers later pleaded that the case be tried under the stricter anti-terrorism law instead of the usual criminal procedure. In papers filed to the Lahore police on Wednesday, the lawyers argued that the case had caused "wider restlessness and anxiety in society". Mr Faisal told the police last week that his wife had started cutting her hair under the influence of drugs, and that he, having also taken drugs, only helped her finish the job. More from Pakistan The case caused a furore on social media, with many voicing their anger at domestic violence in Pakistan. Pakistani actress and singer Sanam Saeed was among those who spoke out in defence of Ms Aziz. Women's rights in socially conservative Pakistan has been a contentious topic of debate for years. The UN's Gender Inequality Index in 2016 puts Pakistan 147th in a list of 188 countries based on its poor record on women's health, education, political empowerment and economic status. Violence against women and girls remains a serious issue. Activists say official statistics do not reveal the extent of the problem - many cases go unreported. Women's Day marches last month brought complaints from some conservative groups. Some of the protest organisers said they received death and rape threats on social media. Reporting by BBC Urdu's Shahzad Malik in Lahore

एक पाकिस्तानी महिला ने सार्वजनिक रूप से अपने पति पर उसे और उसके दोस्तों के लिए नृत्य करने से इनकार करने के लिए उसे पीटने और उसका सिर मुंडवाने का आरोप लगाया है, एक ऐसे मामले में जिसने देश में महिलाओं की सुरक्षा के बारे में नई चिंताओं को जन्म दिया है।


Bury St Edmunds aviary raiders leave dump bag of birds

Summary: Three parakeet birds were left in a tied up bag in an attempted theft from an aviary in a town centre gardens.

They were left behind at Abbey Gardens, Bury St Edmunds, between 16:30 GMT on Thursday and 06:30 the following morning, Suffolk Police said. The aviary holds canaries, budgies, teal ducks, finches and doves. Abbey Gardens is run by West Suffolk Council and is on the 14-acre site of a former Benedictine Abbey, the Abbey of St Edmunds.

तीन तोता पक्षियों को शहर के केंद्र के बगीचे में एक पक्षीशाला से चोरी के प्रयास में एक बंधे हुए थैले में छोड़ दिया गया था।


The malaria mines of Venezuela

Summary: Venezuela used to be a world leader in managing malaria, but is now the only country in Latin America where incidence of the disease is increasing. Around 75,000 people were infected last year, and according to government figures, 60% of cases were in Sifontes, a tiny region of the country where gold mining - where workers drill for gold in mosquito-friendly standing water - is booming, and healthcare is scarce.

By Daniel PardoBBC Mundo Jesus Cañas can barely speak when I ask him about the symptoms of malaria - he shivers, babbles and closes his eyes. "The light is one of the things that I can't stand", says Cañas, 48, who's been mining for more than two decades in Bolivar, a tropical state in south east Venezuela. Jesus is no stranger to the disease. He has been infected with malaria 54 times, he says. His wife has had it 20 times, and even his grandchildren have had it a couple of times. Jesus believes it is worth risking his health for the financial rewards that gold mining brings. "Here you can earn more money than elsewhere; with just one pan (of gold) you catch in a day what you will earn with the monthly minimum wage." From the 1960s to late 1980s, malaria was almost eradicated in the country. But because its tropical conditions, Venezuela has always had several pockets where the disease remained. These areas stayed under control until recently. Last year, the country registered the highest number of cases of malaria in the last 50 years, with 300 out of every 100,000 people infected. Throughout the previous decades the average was 75 cases in every 100,000. And according to the Ministry of Health, it seems that 2014 is going to be just as bad as 2013. Both the government and critics agree that the cause of the surge is in part due to to the boom of illegal gold mining in the region. Mining was introduced to the area decades ago. But in the past 20 years, thousands of miners have come from all over the continent, generating an environmental impact that helps the mosquitoes breed. Most don't have permits to work - or even remain - in the country, causing overpopulation in a remote region where access to healthcare was already scarce. It is the surge of malaria cases in Bolivar that puts the whole country at risk, says Jose Felix Oletta, a former Health Minister who is now director of Red Defendamos la Epidemiologia (Protect Epidemiology Network). Because of it, says Oletta, "there are other endemic regions where the mosquito can thrive again." The Venezuelan government says around 10 people die a year from malaria, but Oletta's organisation counted 80 deaths last year. Wild life So far this year, this country of 30m people has registered more than 45,000 cases of malaria, according to government statistics. In the wild state of Bolivar, the municipality of Sifontes is "ground zero" of the malaria surge. The environmental impact of mining has, as locals put it, "made mosquitoes angry." The boom of illegal mines means more people eroding the rainforest, cutting trees and creating pools of stagnant water to extract gold. The mining conditions, poor infrastructure, and ever-swelling numbers of people for mosquitoes to feast on, have created perfect conditions for malaria to spread. Residents work either as miners, or as service providers to those who risk their lives at the mines. There are shops around every corner where miners sell their gold, as well as pool bars and motels. There is also a brand new government hospital, where every morning hundreds of ill-looking people queue to get tested for malaria. Those who test positive receive a seven-day treatment, paid for by the government, which includes rehydration drinks to combat vomiting and diarrhoea, and pills that target the specific malaria parasite they've been infected with - vivax or falpicarum. "Around 70% of the cases in Sifontes are vivax and the rest are falciparum," says Jorge Moreno, an entomologist who coordinates malaria research for the Bolivar's Health Ministry. "Vivax is not fatal but has the strongest symptoms, whereas falciparum goes unnoticed but can suddenly kill you." Treatment 'abandoned' Proper treatment is essential for controlling malaria, but Ralph Brown, one of the hospital's six doctors, says this doesn't always happen. "The problem is that only two days after feeling okay, patients abandon the treatment," he says. "Then they start drinking, partying, they don't eat well, they have sex..." he says. Many of the patients in Sifontes, however, complain of shortages of medicine - one of the effects of Venezuela's current economic crisis. Visiting the mine where Jesus works, it's easy to see how mosquitoes thrive in the humidity and mud. The miners often sleep right next to the mine, in sheds made of black plastic bags, with zinc sheeting for roofs. There's garbage, and stagnant, black waters surrounding just outside every tent. When the motors from the mine are off, you can hear the mosquitoes buzz in your ear. "I have a mosquito net," says Jesus, as he shows me the hammock where he sleeps. "But that doesn't really avoid the bite, as you can get it any time." Doctors say the best way to protect yourself from malaria is to use repellent, cover up and stay inside at dawn and dusk - advice Jesus and his fellow miners largely ignore. Human intervention The government says it's doing what it can to control malaria. Dr Armando Ortega, director of environmental health at the Institute of Public Health in Bolivar is responsible for controlling malaria in the state. "Environmental conditions like rainfall, humidity and hydrostatic pressure make the mosquito well adapted to the region." But human intervention has played a major role in the surge of malaria here, he adds. "This is one of the biggest gold reserves in the world, which means that many people have migrated here from many parts of Latin America to become richer. "We try to control the mosquitoes with fumigation, we give out insecticide-treated mosquito nets, and we have quick diagnosis and treatment programs. "But we also think the solution is structural - there must be a national programme to regulate mining." 'Going backwards' Critics say the government has allowed illegal mining to grow in the last 15 years. Jose Felix Oletta was Health Minister in the 1990s, with the government party Copei which is today part of the opposition. He is one of the main critics of the malaria surge in Venezuela. "We're going backwards, and malaria threatens to spread to regions where the disease had been eradicated." Perhaps unsurprisingly he lays the blame firmly at the government's door. "They've been in power for the last 15 years, have stopped spending in health, and permitted illegality all over the country and at every level". Nonetheless, both critics and government agree that it's the hunt for gold that causes malaria. A miner here can easily earn as much in a week as a professional in the capital Caracas earns in a month. As Dr Ortega puts it, "as the gold price goes up, so does malaria."

वेनेजुएला मलेरिया के प्रबंधन में एक विश्व नेता हुआ करता था, लेकिन अब लैटिन अमेरिका में एकमात्र ऐसा देश है जहां बीमारी की घटनाएं बढ़ रही हैं। पिछले साल लगभग 75,000 लोग संक्रमित हुए थे, और सरकारी आंकड़ों के अनुसार, 60 प्रतिशत मामले देश के एक छोटे से क्षेत्र सिफोंटेस में थे, जहां सोने का खनन-जहां श्रमिक मच्छरों के अनुकूल खड़े पानी में सोने के लिए ड्रिल करते हैं-तेजी से बढ़ रहा है, और स्वास्थ्य सेवा की कमी है।


Landslip closes five-mile section of Devon/Dorset coast path

Summary: A section of coast path on the Devon/Dorset border has been closed after being damaged by a landslip.

The five-mile (7.6km) section of path near Axmouth and Lyme Regis, closed on Friday, would remain shut until further notice, Devon County Council said. Warning notices have been put in place. The council said it was liaising with land manager Natural England about possible solutions, including remedial works to reopen the section or creating an alternative route.

डेवोन/डोरसेट सीमा पर तट मार्ग के एक हिस्से को भूस्खलन से क्षतिग्रस्त होने के बाद बंद कर दिया गया है।


Budgeting on heroic assumptions

Summary: Suppose you're the careful budgeting type, you need to make ends meet, there's very little room for extra borrowing and you have £30,000 carefully allocated for the year ahead. A lot of it is already committed.

Douglas FraserBusiness/economy editor, Scotland Now imagine you get allocated another £3,000, and a bit more after that, taking it up to £8,600. And a further £1,100. Increased by nearly a third, your budgeting has been overtaken by events. Sounds like a nice problem to have? Now, imagine that extra funding is to deal with a hugely expensive and disruptive family health crisis, for which it's unclear how or when the outcome will come. The money you set aside for a foreign holiday and eating out can't be spent, because it turns out that you're not allowed either. Maybe not so easy to handle. That might give some notion of the scale of disruption to budgeting in St Andrew's House in Edinburgh. It used to be the case that civil servants and ministers would listen out for extra funding in response to English spending pressures, and a predictable share of that would arrive in Holyrood's bank account. Familiar narrative This year, with unprecedented additional funding to tackle the Covid crisis effect, particularly on health and business, that link has broken. A minimum guaranteed sum arrives, but it's unclear why, what English spending it's attached to, and therefore how much more can be expected. That makes it very difficult to retain the familiar narrative of "England spends, so Scotland spends at least as much". The Scottish government likes to claim "you're better off, or no worse off", but when that isn't the case, the opposition pounces. Going into the May elections for Holyrood, Scottish Conservatives want to challenge the claims that the Treasury is not funding particular projects. Tories cite, as an example, a continued business rates holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure, beyond the three months already committed. That could be afforded, goes the Conservative argument, if SNP ministers choose to prioritise it. The cost next year, they say, would be £550m. Likewise a "school catch-up plan" with more teachers and tutoring, which is also costing £550m over five years. Election battle lines are being drawn. With the budget for the financial year starting in April looking as fluid and unpredictable as the one that's soon to end, and with Tories at Westminster letting rip with both deficit and debt, financial constraints on all parties in the election debate are loosened. It's as if everything becomes possible, if you choose to make it so. Watch out for heroic assumptions in the outline budgets behind manifesto plans, and listen hard for talk of the trade-offs between those different priorities.

मान लीजिए कि आप सावधानीपूर्वक बजट बनाने वाले प्रकार हैं, आपको अपनी जरूरतें पूरी करने की आवश्यकता है, अतिरिक्त उधार लेने के लिए बहुत कम जगह है और आपके पास आने वाले वर्ष के लिए सावधानीपूर्वक 30,000 पाउंड आवंटित हैं। इसका बहुत कुछ पहले से ही प्रतिबद्ध है।


Coronavirus: Rhondda keen to avoid long-term impact

Summary: A public health officer, worried about the lack of social distancing in the Rhondda during the pandemic, bemoaned the "well-intentioned but ill-advised custom" of neighbours calling on each other, sometimes to offer support.

By Steve Duffy & Sarah DickinsBBC News It was helping to spread the virus between infected and unaffected households. This was not to do with Covid-19 but the Spanish Flu, back in 1918. Schools and cinemas shut and, despite a little resistance, some churches and chapels did too, in short-lived and partial local lockdowns. Back in the summer and winter of 1918, miners stricken with flu were being carried out of collieries in the Rhondda and Cynon valleys on stretchers. Some things have changed. But John Jenkins, the Rhondda's medical officer for health during the year-long flu pandemic, was familiar with disease and the impact of chronic illness. He also knew about the concept of keeping a distance from infection, especially in tightly packed communities. Coughing, sneezing - and thanks to coal dust at the time - spitting were known to spread infection. But the limited understanding of viruses meant the concept of hand-washing was not considered important 100 years ago. In Rhondda Cynon Taff today, recent infections have been prominent among younger people. But there are concerns coronavirus will transmit to older and more vulnerable friends, relatives and colleagues. The county already has the highest death rate for Covid-19 in Wales. And Porth East & Ynyshir and Pontypridd West are the neighbourhoods with the highest number of deaths. But it is not just about mortality. Doctors are worried that those recovering from Covid-19 and the damage to their lungs and respiratory systems could face a long road back to health. The profile of the average patient in critical care in local hospitals with the virus has been male and 55. And there are concerns about the long-term impact on communities if significant numbers of these patients do not fully recover. In Rhondda Cynon Taff and neighbouring valleys authorities like Caerphilly and Merthyr Tydfil, there are already disproportionately high levels of people with long-term, poor health. In harsh economic terms, that increases the social service and health bills in the area and reduces the amount people are likely to earn and spend in the area. Covid-19 in numbers 2,032total coronavirus cases 41.4 cases per 100,000 in the last week 302deaths, up to 28 August 3.2%proportion of positive tests in last week A study by academics into Welsh towns found that Porth, one of those areas identified along with Penycraig as having clusters of cases, already has high levels of ill health, well before coronavirus arrived. Using figures from the 2011 census, researchers found the proportion of people with long-term health problems was 26% higher than average for Wales. The proportion with bad or very bad health was 43% higher than the Welsh average. The link between deprivation and being more susceptible to the virus has been well charted so having a job and the wages from that job are relevant. The same study also found that in Porth there were six times as many people on employment benefits than average for Wales. In terms of the debate about whether the number of people living together increases rates of coronavirus infection, it is interesting to see the same researchers also found that rates of overcrowded accommodation in Porth were low and broadly in line with the rate across Wales. Rhondda Cynon Taff still prides itself on its strong communities and the floods earlier this year showed households pulling together to help others. During the last big pandemic a century ago, it was men underground working cheek by jowl who were infected. But today the concerns are whether people are at risk from shopping in supermarkets or visiting the pub.

महामारी के दौरान रोंडा में सामाजिक दूरी की कमी के बारे में चिंतित एक सार्वजनिक स्वास्थ्य अधिकारी ने पड़ोसियों के एक-दूसरे को बुलाने, कभी-कभी समर्थन देने के "सुविचारित लेकिन गैर-सलाह वाले रिवाज" पर शोक व्यक्त किया।


CES 2015: TV makers redefine 4K battleground

Summary: Samsung has declared that by 2017 every television it sells will be internet-connectable, prompting one of its executives to suggest we'll soon stop referring to "smart" TVs as such because net-enabled services will be the norm.

By Leo KelionTechnology desk editor, Las Vegas Well, maybe. But even if that's true it doesn't mean it's getting any easier for shoppers to make sense of all the different options being pitched at them. Press day at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) saw a number of new buzz words tossed about. The only things each of the various manufacturers seemed to agree on at the Las Vegas show, beyond the fact that consumers should upgrade to 4K ultra-high definition sets - offering four times the detail of 1080p HD - was that each of their own technologies was the best. OLED v quantum dots The most fierce clash is between the two bestselling brands - LG and Samsung. Bosses at LG's morning event repeatedly stated that they had the edge thanks to their expertise in making OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TVs, which are famed for displaying deeper blacks, producing more vibrant colours and being more energy efficient than traditional LCDs (liquid crystal displays). LG has seven new OLED sets for sale in its refreshed line-up, including a giant 77in (196cm) flexible model that can switch between being flat and curved at the press of a button. By contrast, Samsung has had trouble manufacturing OLED sets and hasn't released new ones at CES as a consequence. So it is kind of convenient that instead Samsung has a different new technology to show off that it claims delivers even better images thanks to superior contrast levels. It calls the innovation SUHD - the S presumably standing for Samsung. It involves the South Korean firm's first application of quantum-dot tech - screens that feature crystals more than 50,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair that can generate vivid colours and are capable of being more than twice as bright as conventional TV screens. To complicate matters, LG also has new quantum-dot-based LCD TVs of its own, but insists its OLED ones are better. Until independent experts carry out their own side-by-side tests, it's impossible to say which of the two firms is right. But one expert suggested that even if OLED wins out, the format might still be doomed, at least for TVs. "Price will rule," says Tom Parsons, reviews editor at Stuff magazine. "If there's only really one manufacturer working on OLED, you've got to wonder if it will be able to champion it enough that it can bring prices down. "If the picture quality of quantum-dot-based sets is roughly as good and they are cheaper, then cost will be the deciding factor for most people." Subpixel bonanza Japan's Sharp is taking a different approach, with a new technology it has dubbed "beyond 4K". It works by squeezing more "subpixels" into its set than others do. The firm says that with this level of detail our eyes find it hard to distinguish a TV image from the real world, even when stood centimetres from the display. It's like looking through a window. Of course, that's not how most people typically watch the goggle box. But one expert noted that habits are changing. "The reality is that the bigger TVs get, the closer people are willing to sit so long as the definition continues to improve," says David Mercer, a TV expert at the consultancy Strategy Analytics. "And what we're already finding with ultra-HD is that people are sitting proportionally closer to the screen than they would for lower resolutions." New app platforms If you've managed to get your head round all that, be warned the work is not done. The other move at this year's CES is that the TV makers are making huge changes to the smart TV software they use to offer streamed programmes and apps: In fact, of the big players, only LG is staying relatively still, upgrading its sets to the second generation of WebOS - the card-based user interface it bought from HP. The new version loads apps a bit quicker and adds supports for 4K video streams. Elsewhere, some of the smaller brands, including Haier, have adopted Roku's platform, originally designed for add-on set-top boxes. "Increasingly a lot of these companies are realising you need to have the benefit of a big third-party ecosystem that embraces developers," says Geoff Blaber from the CCS Insight tech advisory firm. "App usage on smart TVs is nowhere near what we've seen on smartphones and if the TV players want to encourage people to engage in regular upgrades, then they need the hook of more apps." 4K disks Finally, there's one more consideration. Where are you going to get your ultra-high definition content? Netflix and Amazon have started to stream some shows in the higher definition format, and new TVs are gaining the ability to stream 4K YouTube clips. But if you want the very best quality your latest-generation set can provide, you might want to wait for a bit of tech briefly shown off by Panasonic - a prototype 4K Blu-Ray player. "There's an enthusiast market for the very best in video and audio material, and disks will be a very good way to deliver that content," says Mr Mercer. "If the industry can get its act together and bring the standard to market soon, then it has potential. But the window is beginning to close as the momentum is very much towards video on-demand over the net." So, you need to pick the screen tech you want, compare the different prices after they are confirmed, choose a preferred operating system and finally decide how you want to obtain your 4K movies and TV shows. Just don't take too long about it. "The lesson we've learned from smart TV over the past five years is that at one CES you'll hear one set of stories, and when you come back a year later the firms have a completely different pitch for you," concludes Mr Mercer. "It's a very fluid sector." Click here for more coverage from the BBC at CES 2015

सैमसंग ने घोषणा की है कि 2017 तक हर टेलीविजन जो वह बेचता है वह इंटरनेट से जुड़ा होगा, जिससे इसके एक अधिकारी ने सुझाव दिया कि हम जल्द ही "स्मार्ट" टीवी का उल्लेख करना बंद कर देंगे क्योंकि नेट-सक्षम सेवाएं आदर्श होंगी।