'Long Covid has destroyed me but I am fighting back'

Summary: Health coach Jasmine Hayer had to give up her life in London and move back in with her parents after catching Covid. Now she is focused on a twin goal - battling back to health while helping others get the right treatment for Long Covid.

By Charlie JonesBBC News For someone who coaches people on how to live a healthy life, the concept of not being able to move her body was unthinkable for Jasmine. She was training to be a yoga teacher and thrived on life in the capital, with a busy social life that suited her extrovert personality. Last March, she noticed that she couldn't taste or smell anything, following a week of flu-like symptoms. It was the start of a month of "hell", stuck at home with her flatmate who was also suffering with the virus. The 31-year-old spent much of that month terrified, as she struggled to catch a breath. Doctors told her not to go to hospital because she didn't have a fever or cough, so she waited it out at home. She thought she was getting better until a relapse in May left her gasping for air. Even walking around the house made her lungs "feel as though they were on fire", she says. In June, she tried to do 10 minutes of stretching but it left her bed-bound for a week. "It felt like my lungs were allergic to movement," she says. She then developed a rash all over her arms and felt as though "ants were crawling all over me". Weight loss, irregular menstrual cycles, acid reflux, an increased heart-rate, palpitations and insomnia were just a few of the long list of symptoms she experienced. She began to feel anxious and depressed and would cry uncontrollably several times a day. In November, she made the difficult decision to move back in with her parents in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, to focus on her recovery. "I realised making my bed left me breathless for days so I needed help," she says. Doctors continually dismissed her symptoms as anxiety and she says it was "heartbreaking" that she had no medical evidence of the disease. She felt "desperately alone" until she tested positive for antibodies and finally began to be taken more seriously. Her lungs slowly started to improve and she thought she was turning a corner until she went for a long, slow walk a few weeks later. She describes the fallout as a "firestorm". A feeling of tightness in her chest developed into a "tornado" sensation that "ripped through" her lungs and "stabbed" her in the heart. "It felt like I was dying. It was like all of the life was being sucked out of me." Her respiratory specialist ran an X-ray, blood tests and an electrocardiogram which all came back normal. He told her that "her lungs were fine and she may be experiencing trauma from Covid". Dr William Man, the head of the Royal Brompton Hospital's chest clinic, started treating her in December, as part of a clinic seeing 100 severe long Covid cases in the UK. Jasmine describes it as a "complete game changer". She learned she had developed a "dysfunctional breathing pattern" due to experiencing low oxygen levels. A lung gas transfer test showed her breathing levels to be 53%, the same level as a patient with lung disease, and doctors found an obstruction at the top of her right lung, which they believe to be mini blood clots. She started blood-thinning medication in February as a "matter of urgency" to try to clear the clots. An echocardiagram also showed a build-up of fluid around her heart. She also tested positive for Epstein-Barr antibodies, the virus that causes glandular fever. She is hoping more research will be done in this area to establish whether there is a link between the two. Later this month she will have further scans to see if the blood thinners are working and whether the fluid around her heart has decreased. "Long Covid has basically destroyed me," she says. "It has left me physically and mentally imprisoned. "I am a shell of myself and I am grieving the person I used to be. But I am fighting back." What is long Covid? Source: ONS/NHS Other so-called "long haulers" are not getting the help they need because they face "such a battle" to be taken seriously, she worries. She decided to start a blog to document her symptoms and wants to share her story as widely as possible in the hope of helping others. "I've had messages from around the world and I was so happy to hear that one girl has shown her doctor my blog and he is giving her more tests as a result," she says. "I know how lonely and scary it is when you are fighting to be believed. You are literally on your own." She is hopeful that one day she will return to London and finish her training to be a yoga teacher. While she still struggles to exercise and talk for long periods of time, she is enjoying writing and hopes it can help her voice be heard. "This is going to be a long journey for me and I really want to use it to do something good. "I have learned so much, now I just want to share it with other people, including the doctors who are dealing with this new and complex condition." Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk Related Internet Links Jasmine Hayer

स्वास्थ्य प्रशिक्षक जैस्मीन हेयर को लंदन में अपना जीवन त्यागना पड़ा और कोविड की चपेट में आने के बाद अपने माता-पिता के साथ वापस लौटना पड़ा। अब वह एक दोहरे लक्ष्य पर ध्यान केंद्रित कर रही है-लंबे कोविड के लिए सही उपचार प्राप्त करने में दूसरों की मदद करते हुए स्वास्थ्य के लिए वापस संघर्ष करना।


Guernsey and Hong Kong sign tax agreement

Summary: A taxation agreement signed by Guernsey and Hong Kong is an important step in growing business links, Guernsey's chief minister has said.

Deputy Peter Harwood said it would "resolve issues relating to potential double taxation" and "lead to greater opportunities for new business". Since 2011 Guernsey has signed six of the double taxation agreements. Rob Gray, director of income tax, said they helped stop people and companies being charged in both jurisdictions. Deputy Harwood said one with Luxembourg would be signed shortly. Last week the chief minister signed a tax information exchange agreement with the British Virgin Islands - the 41st such accord to be reached. A policy council spokesman said: "This network of agreements covers the majority of G20 countries and EU member states."

ग्वेर्नसे के मुख्यमंत्री ने कहा है कि ग्वेर्नसे और हांगकांग द्वारा हस्ताक्षरित एक कराधान समझौता बढ़ते व्यावसायिक संबंधों की दिशा में एक महत्वपूर्ण कदम है।


Bug closes ward at Dundee's Royal Victoria Hospital

Summary: A virus known to cause vomiting and diarrhoea has prompted the closure of a hospital ward in Dundee.

NHS Tayside has closed ward 4 at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) to new admissions following several suspected cases of norovirus or winter vomiting bug. Health officials said the move was taken as a precautionary measure. Meanwhile, ward 5 at Ninewells hospital in Dundee has reopened following an outbreak of norovirus. The health board said all appropriate infection control measures had been put in place at the RVH. NHS Tayside is urging people who may be feeling unwell or experiencing vomiting and diarrhoea not to visit their friends and family members who are in hospital for at least 48 hours.

उल्टी और दस्त का कारण बनने वाले एक वायरस ने डंडी में एक अस्पताल के वार्ड को बंद करने के लिए प्रेरित किया है।


Marikana mine massacre casts long shadow

Summary: South Africa changed irrevocably when apartheid was abolished and the African National Congress came to power. But in an emotional return to the country of his youth, the British MP and former government minister Peter Hain came face to face with the bitter legacy of last year's shootings at the Marikana mine.

It was a moving homecoming. I returned to my old school where in Pretoria, in my day in the early 1960s, apartheid decreed it was for whites only. This time, I witnessed blacks and whites, friends and students together. I interviewed an old comrade of my anti-apartheid parents in the Supreme Courtroom, where Nelson Mandela had been on trial for his life in 1964 and where that same year a close family friend had been sentenced to death. The emotional turmoil of those grim apartheid years coming flooding back. I met Dikgang Moseneke who told me how, as a frightened 15-year-old on a treason charge, my mother Adelaine had comforted him by bringing him a bar of his cherished chocolate every day - until he was sentenced to 10 years on Robben Island. He is now South Africa's acclaimed Deputy Chief Justice. I was thrilled to witness multi-racial cricket played at Cape Town's international arena, Newlands, Table Mountain majestic behind. After my parents were forced to leave in 1966 for exile in Britain, I led protests in the UK to disrupt all-white South African rugby and cricket tours. Then I could only hope and believe that this would bring about change - here at Newlands was the proof, visible all around me. After Nelson Mandela walked to freedom from 27 years in prison, later to lead his country, he began a process of joyous transformation from evil and bitterness. South Africa today is an amazing and beautiful country to visit, with an infectious spirit of energy and liberation. But I was dismayed to find rampant corruption - and bitter resentment directed towards the African National Congress which freed the country but whose leaders are now widely accused, by their own supporters, of self-enrichment. And one word came up time and again: "Marikana". Last August's terrible police massacre of striking black miners - killing 34 and injuring 78 - symbolises a crisis facing the country. At Lonmin's Marikana Platinum mine north-west of Johannesburg, I heard shocking stories of cold-blooded executions and torture - reminiscent of some of the worst atrocities of apartheid. Lawyers representing families of the dead and injured told me, on the margins of an official Commission of Inquiry, that the massacre seemed pre-planned. This is denied by the police and Lonmin. At least under the country's vibrant multi-racial democracy the truth will come out whereas under apartheid, barbarity was invariably covered up. But it was still shocking to hear a white police ballistics expert confirm to the inquiry that the machine guns used against the defenceless miners were "weapons of war". It was equally chilling to read a letter sent on 13 August 2012 - three days before the massacre - from Lonmin to the Minister of Mines, asking for the full force of the state to be brought to bear on the strikers. I put this to the CEO of Lonmin, Simon Scott, who denied it was an appeal for violence. The Marikana Commission will have to decide whether the killings were premeditated. But no wonder the widows and their lawyers saw events as sinister, not simply tragic. Walking amid rows of macabre white crosses to mark the dead, I concluded that Marikana was indeed a turning point, as former ANC government minister and struggle leader Ronnie Kasrils told me. "I believe it's an actual watershed which the ruling party needs to understand. I feel that we have lost our way to quite a degree," he said. "South Africa's got to re-think its economic position. If we can't find a way to deal with the needs of the workers of this country we are… facing [a] crisis." Not only was it horrific, but the clash between the London Stock Exchange-listed company and its poor black workers suggests that - although democracy came with human rights entrenched for all - the inequalities of apartheid are unchanged. A new, black elite has been co-opted into the white business establishment - a few even becoming billionaires. Lonmin has just appointed a black African Chief Executive, Ben Magara. But the fundamentals of an economy run for a 9% white minority seem unreformed. The ANC government of President Zuma has a mountain to climb - apartheid bequeathed to Mandela and his followers a harsh inheritance. Insatiable demand for new housing means nobody could have expected enough homes to be built - though fully three million have been. Nobody could have imagined that education could have been totally transformed from serving whites only - though the number of black children at school has doubled. Millions have also received running water and electricity under the ANC. Yet so much more could have been achieved if corruption hadn't become almost institutionalised, blocking proper delivery of vital services. And this, I discovered, is what is breeding daily and country-wide community protests, in which two million people were involved last year. Frustration recently erupted into violence at Marikana and in the stunning wine-producing valleys of the Western Cape where I also travelled. But despite everything, I am optimistic. This is still a country with enormous natural resources, good infrastructure and long established administrative mechanisms. Whatever the failings of its local and national leaders, most ANC policies remain admirable. The spirit of Mandela remains strong despite his grave frailty. There is a fine constitution entrenching freedoms. Importantly, there is a vociferous parliamentary opposition and independent pressure groups demanding civil liberties, transparency and honest government. And above all for me personally, the rainbow nation is still an inspirational star compared with the depravity and brutality of apartheid. Watch Peter Hain MP's film South Africa: The Massacre that Changed a Nation on BBC Two at 21:00 BST on Wednesday 24 April and afterwards on the BBC iPlayer.

जब रंगभेद को समाप्त कर दिया गया और अफ्रीकी राष्ट्रीय कांग्रेस सत्ता में आई तो दक्षिण अफ्रीका अपरिवर्तनीय रूप से बदल गया। लेकिन अपनी युवावस्था के देश में एक भावनात्मक वापसी में, ब्रिटिश सांसद और पूर्व सरकारी मंत्री पीटर हेन को पिछले साल मारिकाना खदान में हुई गोलीबारी की कड़वी विरासत का सामना करना पड़ा।


Injuries increase as teens 'accepting' of knife culture

Summary: An increasing number of teenagers in London are being injured by knives, figures obtained by the BBC show. But why are teens continuing to carry knives - and what's it like growing up in this environment?

By Rebecca CafeBBC News Twelve-year-old Imani Bennett is well aware of the danger of knives. Her mother created a poster of pictures of teenagers who have been stabbed to death in London in recent years. Sadly, she knew one of the boys on it. Imani said the poster was not intended to upset her, rather her mother wanted her to understand what was happening and to plant a seed in her head that she was not to become another victim. Imani's friend Shaquan Sammy-Plummer was killed in April 2016 as he attempted to leave a house party in Winchmore Hill. His murderer, Jemal Williams, wanted to teach the 17-year-old a lesson because he had refused to hand over a bag of drinks. She often visits Shaquan's mother, who she describes as "like an auntie", and the pair sit in his room and talk about what happened. "I connect to her a lot and I feel her pain and agony," she said. Shaquan's murder highlights some of the seemingly petty reasons why teens are being attacked in the city. A stolen tracksuit, phone or bike, an insult on social media or in the street are some of the excuses given for murders in recent years. In 2012, six teenagers were stabbed to death, five years later that figure has doubled. The number of knife-inflicted injuries on the under 20s has also followed this upward trend - there were 957 victims in 2012, while in 2016 that figure increased by nearly 30% to 1,234. The age which saw the biggest increase in injuries was 18, which rose by 44%. Although knife crime is a national problem, London recorded the highest increase in knife attacks in the last financial year, according to the Office of National Statistics. 'Streets aren't safe' Quamari Serunkuma-Barnes, 15, was murdered in Willesden, west London, in January. His murderer, who cannot be named due to his age, told his trial he was angry he had been insulted when a so-called rival gang member called him a derogatory name on social media. Despite there being no evidence that Quamari was a member of a gang, the 15-year-old wanted revenge and attacked him as he left school. Attacks like this not only affect the victim's loved ones, but also make other teenagers fearful and feel the need to protect themselves. Joshua, Quamari's close friend, said he noticed a few of his friends began carrying knives after Quamari died. He asked one of them why he felt the need to do so and the response was: "The streets aren't safe, anything can happen." Tekisha, 15, from Catford, south-east London, said when she was in year eight at school she saw a friend get stabbed in the leg for going to another school and trying to fight a rival gang. She says it has affected her upbringing as she does not feel comfortable going out at certain times and cannot visit some areas without a sense of fear. "If I went to Peckham, I would fear for my safety. Not too much that I wouldn't go, but I would be apprehensive because if something potentially happened - would they recognise that I'm not from the area?" Despite this awareness of knife crime, some teenagers have learned to avoid situations that put them at risk. Fourteen-year-old Shannon Green-Barett from Hackney prefers to be mindful that people may be carrying a knife. "I'm not scared to go out and be around people who may be in gangs because there won't ever be a situation where they have to take it out [on her]," she said. She believes that despite the ubiquity of gang members in her area, she does not think they would harm people in their community. "If you're going to go somewhere, you need to understand what might happen, the risks. If you're going into an estate, you're going to think that there will be gang members with knives whereas if you were to go down the road with a lot of houses you're not going to think that. It just depends on where you are. "I've seen people use knives for protection, to feel safe and to know that if something really bad happens, they've always got that one weapon that could have a chance of saving their life. Or they want to prove that they're the one that 'if you mess with me, just know that I have a knife'. "If you're friends with the person and they have a knife you don't really care because maybe nothing can break that friendship." Imani says she avoids getting into arguments, particularly with groups including older girls, and tries to make friends with everyone on her estate. "I know my boundaries, and they're older than me, so I can't disrespect them in a way where it will get to that point where they will take out a knife," she said. She also has friends whose older brothers are in gangs and probably carry knives. "As negative and horrible as this stuff is, what I try to do is, I try to understand it and I am not going to be like this, I'm going to try do my best to bring my community together." 'Fear perpetuates knives' Janita, a youth manager for Hackney Quest, a community-based support group for young people, says it is upsetting that children as young as 12 think it is normal to be around knives. "It's just really, really sad that they have almost become immune to it and they've had to learn to keep themselves safe in terms of staying away from certain areas or getting themselves involved with positive youth clubs and youth activities just so that they know that they've got communities around them." What previously would have resulted in a fist fight now ends in a knife being pulled out, she explained. Janita says because a lot of work is being done to try to overcome this issue, children therefore know about it and that perpetuates a fear. "It's a vicious circle - the fear perpetuates the reactivity that perpetuates the knives. Their fear is often what will lead them into an attack." But Areeb, 23, from Willesden, says it is important teenagers know what is going on. In his area, three teenagers have been murdered in recent years. "Gang members are the ones telling all their members to stay indoors. I feel the innocent ones have to be clued on to it more nowadays because anyone can get hurt." But gangs account for less than 5% of London knife crime, according to a police and crime report. Yvonne Lawson, whose son Godwin was stabbed to death in 2010, says: "It seems like you switch on the television and there's another knife crime. "It's like it's accepted, we're normalising it. We can't normalise a precious life being taken away. We can't be complacent."

लंदन में किशोरों की बढ़ती संख्या चाकू से घायल हो रही है, बीबीसी शो द्वारा प्राप्त आंकड़े। लेकिन किशोर चाकू क्यों ले जा रहे हैं-और इस वातावरण में बड़ा होना कैसा लगता है?


Hong Kong protest: What is mainland China hearing?

Summary: Since protests against a proposed extradition bill began, Hong Kong has drawn global attention. But on the Chinese mainland, it took a while for the story to be picked up, and people have been fed a selective and sometimes misleading narrative.

By Beijing bureauBBC News State media have dismissed the protesters as a small and violent group of separatists, enabled by foreign powers and disliked by locals. In recent days, state media have intensively distributed the most violent moments of the incident, making a hero of a mainland journalist who was beaten up at the airport. Here's how reporting has evolved in China. Controlled coverage If you Google "Hong Kong" in Chinese, the first term that comes up is "Hong Kong protest", linking to coverage by both Western media such as the BBC and the New York Times and state media like CCTV. But access to Google is blocked in China, and if you look on Baidu, the filtered search engine mostly used on the mainland, you get "Hong Kong flights back to normal" followed by "what has happened in Hong Kong recently". The results led on what China's ambassador to the UK said on the issue recently and the losses protesters have caused by paralysing the airport. When the demonstrations first erupted on 9 June, China's heavily controlled state media kept silent, except for reports on pro-government rallies and the foreign ministry's condemnation of "foreign interference". One headline in the nationalist Global Times read: "HK parents march against US meddling."". In early July, media published their first stories about the demonstrations after protesters broke in to the Legislative Council, Hong Kong's parliament. Xinhua, the state-run news agency, criticised "lawless acts that caused mass destruction, which was shocking, distressing and infuriating", citing the Hong Kong Liaison Office of the central government. A second round of coverage on the protest rolled out when the Liaison Office was besieged in late July. The official line has highlighted moments of violence, with words like clashes, mobs and riots, fanning mainland public anger. Over the past week, coverage has focused on protesters throwing petrol bombs and causing injuries to police. Much of the attention in Hong Kong media has been on a female protester whose eye was injured during clashes. Both sides were hurling projectiles, so it is unclear whether her injury was caused by police or demonstrators. Protesters blame police, but CCTV reported on Monday, with a firm tone, that the injury was caused by a fellow protester. It even posted a photo which showed a woman counting cash, and reported suggestions that this was the same woman and a paid provocateur. Videos of armed police assembling in the neighbouring city of Shenzhen, on the mainland, were circulating by state media as well, as well quotes from the Chinese government's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office warning that the movement had laid the foundations for "terrorism". Some have seen this as preparing the public for a potential crackdown by Beijing, even by armed police. A sit-in that shut down the city's airport led to unprecedented chaos on Tuesday night when two mainlanders were tied up and beaten by people around them. One was a Global Times reporter who shouted out "I support Hong Kong police". The reporter, Fu Guohao, is being named a "hero" on the mainland. One online comment said police should learn from how the Communist Party cleared the 1989 protests "with an iron hand". That's a reference to the tanks and armed forces sent into Tiananmen Square, killing hundreds, if not thousands, of the participants. State media have also been reflecting the government's stance alleging "foreign interference", especially from the US and UK, despite a lack of evidence. They ran articles citing Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador to the UK, who on Thursday urged countries to stop interfering and "conniving in violent offences". What do mainlanders make of the protests? China has a wealth of independent bloggers posting on the likes of WeChat and Weibo. Their opinions usually only reach a limited audience if they pick up on a sensitive topic, as such content can be deleted within hours. Last week, one article on WeChat briefly went viral as it provided detailed timelines and historic context of how the issue has evolved, something state media tend to avoid. For example, it argued that the extradition bill wasn't a good solution to the legal case for which it was suggested - where a Hong Kong man killed a woman in Taiwan but fled to his home city. The post was removed by a large-scale Chinese censorship operation after a few hours. A guide to the Hong Kong protests There are ways of getting around the Great Firewall which controls what people in China see online. The country's better-connected youth have been consuming news from external channels with the help of VPNs. What do they make of what they're reading? Despite reading both domestic and foreign news, one mainland Chinese youth, who asked not to be identified, was still largely unsympathetic, and said the ultimate reason behind the unrest was not political, but economic. "The fastest-growing period of Hong Kong has already passed, so the young people there find no way to climb up the social ladder. They feel choked in an environment of expensive housing, sweltering climate and a neighbour [the mainland] that's becoming richer and richer," he said. "The young people in Hong Kong look down upon the mainlanders, and at the same time are afraid of us because they don't want us to overtake them," another mainlander said under the condition of anonymity. He and his friends rarely talk about the ongoing demonstration, he said, because the city is just not important to them. "If a protest breaks out in Beijing or Shanghai, it's going to be much more worrying." That's a fairly typical mindset of mainlanders who have been told for generations that economic growth outweighs other concerns. Some have been using the term "useless youth," a disdainful nickname that emerged in the Occupy Central movement in 2014 for protesters seen as contributing nothing to society but complaints. But one mainlander told us she felt the term resulted from a misinterpretation. She said Hong Kong's youth had their own dreams and that there should be more open communication between the two regions. And what of mainlanders who now live in Hong Kong? Many have expressed support for the protests. One man who has lived in Hong Kong for more than a decade said he joined the 9 June demonstration and donated to a crowdfunding project for a global ad campaign of the demonstration. But he said he disliked some of the more extreme or violent actions of some protesters, and was critical of Hong Kong media, saying they could also be biased. Another mainlander in Hong Kong said they understood the "fear, anger and doubt of the protesters, but beating people up is not forgivable. If the ones who got hit in the face are criminals, violence turns the demonstrators into criminals as well."

एक प्रस्तावित प्रत्यर्पण विधेयक के खिलाफ विरोध शुरू होने के बाद से, हांगकांग ने दुनिया का ध्यान आकर्षित किया है। लेकिन चीनी मुख्य भूमि पर, कहानी को उठाए जाने में कुछ समय लगा, और लोगों को एक चयनात्मक और कभी-कभी भ्रामक कथा दी गई है।


New coronavirus rules 'inevitable': The view near No 10

Summary: For some of those sunning themselves in London's St James's Park on Saturday afternoon, discussions ongoing just yards away at Downing Street on the tightening of national restrictions in England are at once both "worrying" and "inevitable".

By George BowdenBBC News Couples and friends meeting for picnics and catch-ups told BBC News conflicting and confusing advice on what they can and cannot do during the pandemic runs alongside a general feeling of resignation over the prospect of national measures being tightened. Ruth and Chris Parker, from Wigan but on a week's holiday after working non-stop since March, think the difference between social distancing in the north and south of England has been "stark". "We were queuing for a pub in Putney last night and we had to just leave it," Chris, 48, says. "There was no social distancing at all," Ruth, 49, adds. "We ended up in Wagamamas, which was pretty well organised." 'Lockdown is coming' The couple say they think there has been a change in attitudes in the North West since a marked rise in coronavirus cases led to tighter local restrictions. Wigan is one of the few areas in Greater Manchester to see local restrictions on households and movement lifted. "People are now taking it pretty seriously there," says Chris, who conducted much of his work as a church minister virtually during the first lockdown. "We do seem a bit better at social distancing," Ruth, a former music teacher, adds. A second lockdown has them worried, but Chris believes "if it has to happen, it has to happen". "I think a national two-week lockdown is coming but not quite the full lockdown we had." "It's not ideal," is Tom Duncan's view as he enjoys a meal deal with his partner Aisha. The 21-year-old finance workers say they do not want to see another full lockdown with just a few permitted reasons for leaving home. "Closing pubs and bars early seems fine," Tom says, "But not being unable to see anyone again." Drinking and distancing "It's going to have to happen as people don't care - people don't see it as a threat," Aisha adds. "You can see when people have had a drink they don't socially distance." The pair say they are now able to go back to their offices if they book a slot - but working from home has its advantages. It also means a second lockdown "doesn't really affect us," Aisha says. "There's pros and cons to it." Nicola Evans, 24, who works for an engineering firm, says a second lockdown might not be the worst thing if it helps protect vulnerable people. "I feel like, why not? If it's keeping people safe," she says. "It's the way it is. Though I'd rather be able to see people. "I'm working from home so it doesn't really affect me - as long as I'm able to get out of the house during the day. "I've not gone back to the office yet, it keeps being postponed." 'Still paying rent' But for her friend Emmelia Georgio, 24, from Cyprus, the prospect of a second lockdown would throw a spanner into the final year of her Masters in dance movement psychotherapy. "This year is already going to be very different," she says of her studies. "It's a mix of online and in-person learning now, but I worry what would happen in a second lockdown. "If there is a second lockdown it's hard to see how it is managed." "We still have to pay fees and rent - and you think, 'what's the point in paying' if a lockdown happens," she adds. There is little doubt about what will happen next for Antonia Brown and Ioanna Gkoutna - a second lockdown is "inevitable". Ioanna, 21, arrived a week ago from her native Greece to begin a Masters at the University of Oxford. "Compared to home, nobody here is taking things seriously," she says. "I was really surprised when I came here. You're in Tescos, say, and so many people are not wearing masks and nobody is challenging them. The staff are not wearing masks." Ioanna - from a part of Greece not covered by quarantine rules - thinks enforcement is crucial to any future lockdown. "In Greece there is lots of enforcement of the rules," she says. "I myself phoned the police when a man refused to wear a mask at the beach - if I did that here, what would even happen?" Antonia, 22, from London, says "London needs to wake up" to the coronavirus once more. "We're now talking about locking down harder but they had the audacity to say 'get back to work'." "We're running before we can walk," she adds. "They're telling us to get out and spend money, and now the rates are going back up." "Unless they enforce it, it won't make a difference," Ioanna adds, "I've been [in the UK] for a week and haven't seen the police once." Just as Ioanna finishes speaking, a police officer passes on a bicycle taking a keen interest in those gathered for picnics in the park. "Well, he's here now I guess."

शनिवार दोपहर लंदन के सेंट जेम्स पार्क में खुद को धूप खिलाने वालों में से कुछ के लिए, इंग्लैंड में राष्ट्रीय प्रतिबंधों को कड़ा करने पर डाउनिंग स्ट्रीट पर कुछ गज की दूरी पर चल रही चर्चा एक साथ "चिंताजनक" और "अपरिहार्य" दोनों हैं।


The UK YouTube stars with fans around the world

Summary: The UK's most influential YouTube creators have been named in a top 10 list produced for the BBC. How do self-made stars like these become famous around the world? And are they taking over from traditional celebrities?

By Caroline LowbridgeBBC News Becky Sheeran was shopping four years ago when a girl she had never met walked up to her, asked for a hug, then started crying. Becky was working as a television journalist at the time, but the girl didn't recognise her from TV - she recognised her from videos she recorded in her spare time and uploaded to YouTube. "I will never forget it," says the 27-year-old, from Nottinghamshire. "She knew everything about my life, my family, my favourite foundation, my favourite clothes. "It was just amazing and ever since then it's carried on happening." Becky, who started making videos for her TalkBeckyTalk channel in 2009, eventually left TV to concentrate on YouTube full-time. "Now [being recognised] happens most times I go into town, especially if I'm in a shopping centre, it always happens on a Saturday because there are always women there," she says. "Really randomly I was skiing last Christmas in Switzerland and I was up the highest mountain in this tiny log cabin and two twin girls came up to my sister and I." These experiences may sound unusual, but there are literally thousands of YouTube creators like Becky who have huge audiences all over the world. Data analysed by video intelligence company Tubular Labs shows that 17,000 creators have more than 100,000 subscribers - and 1,275 of these creators are registered in the UK. Incredibly, 1,477 YouTube creators have more than a million subscribers, and 147 of these creators are registered in the UK. The top 10 Tubular Labs has created a list of the top 10 most influential UK creators for the BBC. At the very top is Olajide "JJ" Olatunji, who dropped out of college, but has made $4.5m (£2.9m) in the past year, according to a Forbes list of the world's highest-paid YouTube stars. The 22-year-old, from Watford, has more than 10 million subscribers on his KSI YouTube channel and a "social reach" of 17.4 million when other social media platforms are taken into account. He is best known for filming himself playing computer games while commentating on them, but he also makes comedy videos and more typical vlogs. His vlogs include one where he decided to dye his hair blond and another in which he filmed himself for a week to give his viewers a chance to see what he does when he's not posting YouTube videos. However, he has been criticised for the content of some of his videos, with claims that he propagates misogynistic views of women and trivialises rape. He was also accused of sexually harassing attendees of Eurogamer 2012, a video games showcase. In a statement in response to the criticism, his manager said he has "been actively avoiding certain content seen in the distant past and wants to be judged on the great content and value he gives to brands and partners, without controversy". KSI's brother Deji Olatunji, known as ComedyShortsGamer, is in second place on the list. His videos appear to concentrate more on comedy than gaming, with one of his most popular being a prank where he told his mother he had made a girl pregnant. The hugely popular gamer and comedian Felix Kjellberg, known to fans as PewDiePie, does not appear on the list because he is registered as a Swedish creator, although he lives in Brighton. A global audience "What is amazing specifically about the UK creators is that their content travels so well internationally," says Denis Crushell, vice president of Europe for Tubular Labs. "They are probably exporting this content to hundreds of countries around the world, which if you think about a TV show and more traditional media brands, it would be quite hard to distribute to hundreds of countries pretty easily." In fact, only 34% of the audience for the top 10 UK creators is based in the UK, while 27% of the audience is based in the US. Mr Crushell thinks this is partly because the UK and US share the same language. "What you see in countries around Europe, like Germany and France, is their content doesn't travel as well because of the language," he says. He also thinks there has been a "One Direction effect", where people who are fans of the English-Irish boy band favour young male YouTube creators from the UK. "All of these creators getting mass audiences around the world has only really been happening in the last four or five years, so it's kind of a trend that's kept on par with when One Direction have been pretty popular," says Mr Crushell. YouTube as a career In joint third place are two other siblings - Zoe Sugg, known as Zoella, and Joe Sugg, known as ThatcherJoe - along with Joe's flatmate Caspar Lee, known simply as Caspar. They all film a mix of videos, with some of the most popular being one where Zoe shows people how she applies her makeup every day, Joe plays pranks on Caspar in the flat they share, and Caspar introduces people to his girlfriend. All three are managed by Gleam Futures, a company founded in 2010 to manage what it calls "social talent". Its MD and founder, Dominic Smales, worked in newspapers and radio before becoming fascinated by social media. "No-one was calling them talent at that time and I think we were the first people to coin the phrase social talent, and it grew from there really," says Mr Smales. "We now have 28 talent on the roster that will probably drive in the region of four billion views this year on YouTube alone." So why does Mr Smales think Zoe, Joe and Caspar have been so successful? "All of them have the ability to connect and entertain global audiences who feel like they have a real relationship with those guys, and they do," he says. "They are who they are and there are no skeletons in the closet and I think people feel like these are people just like me. "I relate to them as my friend rather than being an untouchable character on a big screen." Zoe has talked openly about having an anxiety disorder and panic attacks, so it's difficult to imagine her being the type of person to go to stage school or become a TV presenter. But YouTube has enabled her to become so famous there are now Madame Tussauds wax figures of her and boyfriend Alfie Deyes - who is also a YouTuber and appears at number 10 in the influencers list. Mr Smales thinks people who find fame through YouTube are often very different from traditional celebrities. "I think the major differences are that a lot of our talent set out on this journey with fame not being the goal," he says. "Our talent, they are not so much performers but they are internet entrepreneurs I guess." It might look easy to make a living by making YouTube videos, but Mr Smales says this is a serious misconception. "It really isn't that easy and it's very, very hard work and all of our talent work very hard at making a career out of it," he says. So how do YouTube creators make money, and how much can they expect to earn? Mr Smales says they get a "small percentage" of advertising revenue but "it's not until you get a really big audience that you can start being able to pay the bills with it". There are other opportunities to make money, though, such as being sponsored to promote products in videos, or being paid for work outside of YouTube - such as Zoe's record-breaking novel, Girl Online. 'Cashing in' - and criticism YouTubers will "never, ever discuss the numbers they are making with you", according to Alex Brinnand, co-editor of TenEighty, a magazine about vloggers and the internet. "It's not the done thing, and it's also against YouTube's guidelines to talk about advertising in particular and the finances behind that," he says. "But we can all be assured that there are more than hundreds of YouTubers out there that are earning six-figure, if not seven-figure, salaries from being on YouTube and it only seems to be growing. "As more advertisers and more brands become interested in them, these YouTubers are really setting themselves up to cash in on this deal." Some YouTubers have been criticised for not making it clear when videos are sponsored, and the Committee of Advertising Practice has issued its first guidance since a landmark Advertising Standards Authority ruling last year. "The majority of us started doing it as people doing it for fun and we never saw it as a business thing at all," says Mr Brinnand, who has been a YouTuber himself since 2007. "So being thrown in front of brands and advertisers and being offered these crazy deals is something that a lot of YouTubers are having to learn on their feet and as they go." As more people realise that YouTube can become a career, Mr Brinnand believes the type of people starting channels is changing. "A lot of young people do see YouTube as a very glamorous job, if you can call it that, and that is because the majority of what audiences see is only a snippet of people's day," he says. "I think they like the idea of it but I'm not sure they would be comfortable doing it day in day out for years as these established YouTubers have done." YouTube vs television Stars from social media and traditional media are increasingly crossing over. For example, Zoe Sugg was a celebrity contestant on TV show the Great Comic Relief Bake Off, while TV chef Jamie Oliver has several YouTube channels. "We are now seeing more and more YouTube stars levelling or surpassing mainstream celebrities," says Mr Brinnand. "When we look at TV or even magazines we are now beginning to see these YouTube stars alongside the pop stars and the TV stars. "It's really changing the face of the media industry and what we know as celebrity." Denis Crushel has similar views. "You see people like Jamie Oliver create a big YouTube channel where he realises that it's a big opportunity to distribute his content and his name and everything else on a global platform," he says. "People's habits are changing and not only for younger audiences. "I think right now TV is still so large [but] a lot of that viewing habit that happens on TV will be moving online, whether it's YouTube or other video platforms that gain big audiences that's yet to be seen." Becky Sheeran thinks there will always be space for television. "It's not that television is dying, I read things like this all the time and I don't think that's true," she says. "I think the online world is completely in harmony with it because you turn to television for the most amazing content and you turn to television for quality because there's undeniable quality in a television programme. "What people are turning to YouTube for is alternative, they are turning to YouTube for stuff that they cannot get on television." Dominic Smales thinks people will still watch television in future, but it won't necessarily be transmitted live into people's homes. "Everything is heading towards coming down an internet pipe, even though it will still be your TV or your screen that's in your living room that you might consume a lot of content on," he says. "This is only going to grow. It's a seismic shift in the way that generations consume media and celebrity."

ब्रिटेन के सबसे प्रभावशाली यूट्यूब रचनाकारों को बी. बी. सी. के लिए बनाई गई शीर्ष 10 सूची में नामित किया गया है। इस तरह के स्व-निर्मित सितारे दुनिया भर में कैसे प्रसिद्ध होते हैं? और क्या वे पारंपरिक हस्तियों से अलग हो रहे हैं?


'There's a 50% chance I've a fatal disease. Do I find out?'

Summary: If you could see how the rest of your life might play out would you want to? Jackie Harrison has a 50-50 chance of a disease that has killed her mother, uncle and grandfather. Should she take a test to find out whether she will get it too - and could she cope with the result? The BBC's Sarah Bowen has been following her story.

It's rare for a day to pass when Jackie Harrison doesn't wonder if she's inherited the faulty gene that could lead to her developing Huntington's disease, a condition that causes certain nerve cells in the brain to waste away and slowly robs you of the ability to talk, to walk, to move, to think, to swallow. There is no treatment for Huntington's and no cure. Jackie is 51 and lives in Brighouse, a small, industrial town in West Yorkshire, with her partner of 30 years, Tony, and younger brother, Mark. When Jackie was 12 her mother, Jean, who'd been a teacher, died from the disease at the age of just 48. Her father left the children to be brought up by their grandmother, 78-year-old Edith, who had already lost her husband to Huntington's. Within two years Edith's son, Barry - Jackie's uncle - had also died. "I've not had a normal life, it's taken everything from me," Jackie says. "I don't know what it's like to have a mum and dad, to have that stability." Jackie wanted to become a teacher like her mum and grandmother, but when Edith died it was up to Jackie to run the house and look after her brother. Find out more She got a job and managed to keep a roof over their heads while Mark took his exams at school. Then, when Mark went to university, Jackie was able to work part-time and study herself - gaining a degree and doing a teaching diploma. But then Mark developed Huntington's and for the past 10 years Jackie has been his full-time carer. "I prepare all his food, do his shopping, do all the cleaning," Jackie says. "As soon as he's got clean clothes on he's dirty straightaway, spills his food down him all the time." Jackie helps Mark with everything, from going to the toilet to organising his finances. Having a parent who had Huntington's means Jackie has a 50-50 chance of developing it herself and the possibility that she will is always there at the back of her mind. "I twitch my shoulder and I know I do it. Sometimes I've got a twitchy eye," Jackie says. "I'm being bad tempered, shouting at people. So you think, 'Is this the start of it?'" But Jackie's never wanted to take the Huntington's test, whenever she's thought about it she's always backed away, her partner Tony says. It's early December 2016. Jackie has her first appointment with a clinical geneticist at Leeds General Infirmary to discuss the possibility of taking the test. She's not really had much time to think about the idea, what with the stress of looking after Mark and trying to get funding to build an extension for a specially adapted bathroom for him. Jackie's also learning to drive - something she's never done before because she knows she'll only have to give it up if she does get Huntington's. "I remember coming back from the seaside once in the car with my uncle and being stopped by the police - they thought he was drunk," Jackie says. "Eventually the car was taken off us. So what's the point in going through all this heartache, wasting a year of my life and spending all this money if I do test positive for this bloody disease?" Jackie's not even sure that she's really ready to find out if she carries the Huntington's gene. "I don't know how far with the process I will go. This might be the end of it today, I don't know," she says. Jackie and the doctor talk through her family history and the pros and cons of taking the test for about an hour. "There's no medical reason to do the test," Dr Emma Hobson explains. "We have to think very carefully about a bad result and the impact of that. You may say that you've always thought you're going to get Huntington's, but the reality of actually being told, 'Yes, you are,' that's quite a big step ." Jackie gets upset, she's not sure Christmas is the right time, maybe it's not a good idea to go ahead just now. "It puts a microscope to everything you've lost," she says. "Maybe in the spring." Jackie agrees to return for another meeting in a couple of months. "If you get a positive result you're effectively getting a death sentence. You know exactly how are you going to die, which is a lot of knowledge to take on," she says. "I suppose that's why there's so much counselling upfront. Would I throw myself under a bus? I don't know." As Christmas approaches Jackie is busy looking after Mark and trying to raise the profile of Huntington's disease with an idea inspired by her border terrier, Sybil. She's sewing and sending out hundreds of little green and pink felt dogs to encourage friends, celebrities, anyone, to photograph themselves with one, just to get people to talk about the disease. "I'm not very good at crafts, but I've managed to make six or seven hundred of these," Jackie says, "it's driving me crazy picking up bits of thread and felt." Huntington's disease For as long as she can remember, Jackie's felt that Huntington's has been a hidden disease - as though it were a shameful thing to have in the family. "In America researchers in the '20s thought Huntington's disease families were tainted by witchcraft," Jackie says. "And the language around it is fascinating - it's a devil's disease, or it's a curse." Many families hide Huntington's, she says, and that feeling of shame passes through generations. She remembers being embarrassed as a child, going out with her own mother. "Mum wanted to go to the Brighouse Gala but then she'd fall over and have a cut leg, and so you're the one with the mother staggering about looking like she's a drunk, not like the other ones," Jackie says, fighting back tears. "And you're frightened it'll be you next and nobody will want you because you're going to get the same thing, it just goes on for generations." But after Jackie and Mark there won't be any future generations of this family with Huntington's. Mark never had the chance to marry and have kids before the disease took hold, and although Jackie and Tony have been together for more than three decades they've never had children either. More from The Untold Tony would have liked to have married Jackie but with everything else going on it would just be another thing to organise now. He says it's hard to imagine how different things would have been if there had been no Huntington's in their lives. "I should imagine we probably would have had children - we would have had no reason not to," Tony says. "It's something that I'm sure Jackie regrets." But having a family is something Jackie's never really allowed herself to think about too much because she's always believed she carries the faulty gene. "You toy with it, but I think you just put it away because you wouldn't want to inflict this on to anybody else," she says. It's a warm, spring day in early May 2017 and Jackie and Tony are back in Leeds, on their way to the next hospital appointment. "At the end of the day, it's never going to be the right time. So what do you do? Live without the knowledge? Or crack on and get it done?" Jackie says. Since her last visit here government funding for the bungalow extension has come through and building work has begun on the accessible wet-room for Mark. Jackie's also passed her driving test. "Every time I get in the car I think, 'This is really bizarre,'" Jackie says, smiling. "But it will be useful." She's feeling more determined to go ahead with the test and spends an hour talking through the impact that both a positive and negative result might have. If Jackie wants to go ahead with the test she now can. Five months later, on Friday 13 October 2017, Jackie is back at Leeds General Infirmary. Emma Hobson explains how she will tell Jackie the results at the next appointment if she goes ahead and has the blood test. "I will make sure your appointment is the first of the afternoon and I will call you in and I will say, 'Hello, I've got your results. I'm really pleased it's good news', or 'I'm really sorry it's not,'" she says. "We will not be chatting, or passing the time of day, or talking about the weather." She goes through the consent form with Jackie and continues to check that this is really is the right thing for her. Jackie has her blood taken by a nurse. It takes just seconds. A month has passed. It has been a long wait. Jackie and Tony have arranged to get a new dog in the days after Jackie gets her results. Their beloved Sybil passed away in September after more than 14 years with them, and they think that the new puppy, another border terrier they'll call Spike, will help keep their minds off things. Jackie's been having strange dreams and is nervous and feeling stressed, but soon she will know the answer to the question she's wanted to know but been too frightened to ask almost all of her life. Little is said on the car journey to the hospital. Emma Hobson comes to the door of her office in the neurology outpatients department. "Come in and have a seat Jacqueline," she says. "Welcome, I've got your result, and it's good news. Have a look. "'Normal' it says on there. It's very good news." Text by Sarah McDermott "The doctor said to us: 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.' The nurse on duty cried," says Sally Phillips, recalling the day when her 10-day-old son, Olly, was tested for Down's syndrome. Already 90% of women in the UK who know their baby will have Down's syndrome opt for termination and Phillips worries that a new, very accurate test will cause the number to rise. Will Olly be one of the UK's last children with Down's? Read: A world without Down's syndrome? Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

यदि आप देख सकते हैं कि आपका बाकी जीवन कैसा चल सकता है तो क्या आप चाहेंगे? जैकी हैरिसन के पास एक ऐसी बीमारी की संभावना है जिसने उसकी माँ, चाचा और दादा को मार दिया है। क्या उसे यह पता लगाने के लिए एक परीक्षण करना चाहिए कि क्या वह भी इसे प्राप्त करेगी-और क्या वह परिणाम का सामना कर सकती है? बीबीसी की सारा बोवेन अपनी कहानी का अनुसरण कर रही है।


Ukraine vote could push the country into chaos

Summary: Five months after Ukrainians elected the pro-Western Petro Poroshenko to replace the Russian-leaning Viktor Yanukovych, who was deposed in a February mass uprising, Ukrainians once again are heading to the polls - this time to choose a new parliament.

By David SternBBC News, Kiev President Poroshenko hopes this will cap the revolutionary process, and help stabilise the country, producing a legislature seen as legitimate by the population and with a clear mandate to pass needed reforms. Right now, Mr Poroshenko's self-named political bloc is leading in the opinion polls and may secure an absolute majority. But it is equally possible that, instead of helping to introduce calm, the new parliament will become a centre of dissent and turmoil - and provide a springboard to groups which will challenge Mr Poroshenko's political programme, both inside the legislature and out on the streets. The situation throughout the country remains brittle. The economy is disintegrating and the Ukrainian government is faced with a mountain of debt. A dispute over gas prices with Moscow means the country could suffer through a severe energy shortage this winter. What's more, the war in the east could escalate at any moment. Right now, though fighting continues, it's percolating at a relatively lower level, giving Mr Poroshenko just enough breathing space to forge ahead with his political plans. Rebel commanders in the past days, though, have raised fears of a return to full-scale combat. The "prime minister" of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, has been quoted as saying his army could soon mount a campaign to take three towns in the region, Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Mariupol. "We intend to take them, to return them to us. So we don't exclude there could be heavy military operations," Zakharchenko said, according to Interfax news agency. Later, however, he said he was misquoted and meant the cities would be taken through "peaceful means". White supremacist Even if the "ceasefire" manages to hold, the war in the east will nevertheless dictate developments back in Kiev. The death toll continues to mount - more than 350 people have died since the truce was declared on 5 September - with fierce battles raging in a number of locations, especially around the charred steel husk of Donetsk's main airport. Only a handful of election districts in the warring regions of Donetsk and Luhansk will be open. It also remains to be seen how many people will have the courage to vote or the desire, given the bitterness among a large part of the population, after months of shelling. But once the deputies have taken their seats, the battle may shift inside the walls of the parliament. Conceivably, nine political parties could pass the 5% barrier and enter parliament through proportional representation, based on their overall showing in the vote. Half of parliament's 450 seats are chosen through party lists and half elected directly through single-mandate districts. Of these, besides President Poroshenko's bloc, three seem to have the highest chance: Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk's People's Front, ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko's Fatherland party, and populist leader Oleh Lyashko's Radical Party. Parties from the far right, pro-European centre, and the remnants of the once-ruling Party of Regions could also cross the minimum threshold. It is still unclear how any of these parties, or the over-sized egos that run them, will behave once in parliament. Moreover, many of the new faces are completely unknown quantities - such as the numerous paramilitary commanders on various parties' tickets, or Andrei Biletsky, a white supremacist commander running for Arseniy Yatseniuk's People's Front. Social pain The mood in the country is darkening. Eight months after the February revolution, a feeling is spreading that nothing has changed. Corruption is rampant, political and economic reforms are just being discussed, and the same faces populate the political elite. Many question whether Mr Poroshenko, a billionaire with deeply vested business interests, truly wants to transform Ukraine into something more transparent and democratic. If Mr Poroshenko does introduce reforms, many could initially cause profound social pain - such as raising the domestic price for gas. As necessary as this may be - in order to eliminate corruption in the gas industry and a massive budgetary black hole - it will unquestionably create an outcry. The war in the east is another flashpoint. Mr Poroshenko's peace plan is highly unpopular. Many fear it has rewarded the militants and Russia, which has by all appearances supported the insurgency with weapons, organisation and troops, by creating two de facto independent states. There is heavy criticism of the government's overall conduct of the war. Although the military seems in better shape than in the first disastrous days of the war, it is still badly equipped, and, according to many fighters, badly led. For anyone who wants to mount an anti-government or anti-Poroshenko campaign, therefore, the potential pressure points are many. And many in the new parliament may seize the opportunity, either because of true concern for Ukrainians, or out of personal ambition.

यूक्रेनियनों द्वारा पश्चिमी समर्थक पेट्रो पोरोशेंको को रूसी झुकाव वाले विक्टर यानुकोविच की जगह लेने के लिए चुने जाने के पांच महीने बाद, यूक्रेनियन एक बार फिर चुनाव की ओर बढ़ रहे हैं-इस बार एक नई संसद चुनने के लिए।


What I wish I hadn't said to my colleague

Summary: Life with a disability can sometimes give rise to unspoken questions and sensitivities, but amid the awkwardness there can be humour. The following is an edited version of a sketch performed by Maura Campbell, who has Asperger's syndrome, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

I come from a family of VIPs. We all have letters after our names. My husband has ADHD. And my son and I have ASD, which stands for Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Autism affects how a person perceives and relates to the world around them, but I don't actually feel "disordered" as such. I think of it more as having a set of differences. Basically, I was born with the social skills of a used teabag. Over the years I've improved by carefully observing the humanoids in their natural habitat, mirroring other people and such, but I still have some social blind spots and I have a limited amount of social energy. Because of that, I experience high levels of social anxiety. Like many women on the spectrum, I had a late diagnosis. I was 44 when my Asperger's syndrome - a form of autism - was confirmed so for most of my life I had absolutely no idea why I found interacting with other people so problematic. I think my defining characteristics growing up were probably my honesty and directness. One night, as a senior manager in the civil service, I found myself at a dinner hosted by a national newspaper during party conference season. It was in the late 1990s. I was seated beside a very non-descript bloke, who seemed pleasant enough. He introduced himself and manfully tried to keep a conversation going with me - small talk is not my strength. After an awkward pause I finally asked if he was a journalist. "No," he said, "I'm an MP." "Oh, what did you say your name was again?" "Iain Duncan Smith." "Sorry. Never heard of you," I said. As well as autism, I have something else in common with my son - we both have curly hair. His curls make him look like a cherub. Mine hang so I look more like Dougal from The Magic Roundabout. All my life, for as long as I can remember, I have longed for straight, smooth hair. I used to work with a woman - let's call her Janice - who had great hair. She wore it in a nice bob which was very elegant. I wanted Janice's hair. I had hair-envy so bad. After a while, we went off to work in different departments. But a few years later I ran into her at a meeting with loads of people sitting round a big table. "Janice! What have you done with your hair?" I said. Her hair was now short and curly. It didn't suit her nearly as well as the lovely bob. "Your hair was far nicer before. Why did you do that to it?" I asked. A strange hush descended on the room. I looked around and everybody had their heads down. Janice smiled and replied: "Oh, you know, it just grew back that way, after the chemo." I realised immediately what I'd done. I felt truly awful. I started to apologise but Janice just laughed and told me it was absolutely fine. Janice had worked with me before and so, while it must have appeared to everyone else in the room as though I had just been really rude, she knew I'd meant no harm. She chose to see the funny side. Maybe it was even a bit of a relief for her that, for once, someone didn't tiptoe around her illness. I had trampolined on it. Maybe she was just being kind. I don't know, but I was incredibly grateful to her for being so gracious. It wasn't the first time I'd put my foot in it and I'm sure it won't be the last. I can only speak of my own experience, but I've observed that honesty and directness can be something of an "over-strength" for many autistics. It's often the result of our inability to be fake or insincere. We tell it like it is. I hate lies and I would rather get it wrong socially than tell an outright lie to someone. It can also be because of a thing called "context blindness", which sometimes leads people to assume - incorrectly - that we don't empathise. I think my son may have inherited the honesty gene from me as well. One night recently, while we were snuggling together on the sofa, he poked me in the stomach. "Wobbly. Is wobbly. Too wobbly!" You know what? I couldn't have been prouder. Storytelling Live: Tales of the Misunderstood Maura was one of seven people with a disability or mental health difficulty to perform a story about awkward moments as part of BBC Ouch's storytelling event at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. You can also read: Look out for a special TV programme which brings all the tales together. For more Disability News, follow BBC Ouch on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to the weekly podcast. For more Disability News, follow BBC Ouch on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to the weekly podcast.

विकलांग जीवन कभी-कभी अनकहे प्रश्नों और संवेदनशीलताओं को जन्म दे सकता है, लेकिन अजीबता के बीच हास्य हो सकता है। निम्नलिखित एडिनबर्ग फ्रिंज फेस्टिवल में एस्परजर सिंड्रोम से पीड़ित मौरा कैंपबेल द्वारा प्रस्तुत एक स्केच का संपादित संस्करण है।


Gwynedd bus boss 'had no knowledge' of fraud, court hears

Summary: A former Gwynedd bus firm boss has claimed he had no knowledge of the fraudulent claiming of more than £800,000 of public money.

John David Hulme, 55, denied fraud and false accounting charges, relating to money paid by Gwynedd council to Padarn Bus in claims for concessionary fares. He told Caernarfon Crown Court he did not know the firm claimed to carry more concessionary passengers than it had. Mr Hulme said he had no previous experience of running a company. The trial continues.

ग्वेनेड बस फर्म के एक पूर्व प्रमुख ने दावा किया है कि उन्हें 800,000 पाउंड से अधिक के सार्वजनिक धन के धोखाधड़ी वाले दावे के बारे में कोई जानकारी नहीं थी।


Covid lockdown love: 'We got engaged after 24 hours'

Summary: When Wales was locked down to try to stop the spread of coronavirus, comedian Lorna Prichard thought it would put a halt to her planned return to the world of dating. But the film fan went online, found her hero and fell in love. Here she describes how she found her happy ending.

I'd always been into romantic movies. And deep down I'd harboured hope that my own love life would be as full of passion and emotion as the ones I had seen on screen. From Casablanca to Clueless - I was hooked on love stories from a very young age. But throughout my 20s and early 30s, my love life had been a series of disasters. Box office bombs. I spent a couple of years in the dating wasteland. And in March 2019 I decided to give myself a year off. Instead, I'd focus on my career in stand-up comedy. March 2020 would be the perfect time to get back on the dating scene. When that month finally came round, I realised to my dismay that a global plague had accompanied it. Dating was completely off the cards! Not just a ban on casual sex, there was a ban on meeting up for coffee! Not that I could afford luxuries like coffee - suddenly, all my gigs had dried up. With characteristic optimism I decided to take my love life online. After all, I had plenty of time on my hands! I joined a couple of dating apps and set up my profile: "Tree-loving Welsh woman seeks same", "Jobless comedian after an audience of one". I also went for a range of photos that showed what fun I was and how flat my stomach had been 10 years ago. I hadn't anticipated the amount of admin online dating involves! It didn't help that I'm bisexual, so that was double the paperwork. By May I was ready to give up. I thought I'd have one more trawl through my dating inboxes out of politeness. That's when a man called Leo caught my eye. He was a Brazilian engineer. He had lively, intelligent eyes and a big smile. I decided to give virtual dating one last chance and invited him for a Friday night drink over Zoom. The first date He was an hour late, which surprised me. How can you be an hour late in lockdown? What other commitments can you possibly have? But he soon made up for it with easy conversation and natural charm. A non-stop stream of texts and phone calls ensued between us. Were we falling in love, or just bored? I'm not sure we'll ever know. The prospect of holidays to his hometown of Rio de Janeiro may have helped. The only hiccup we encountered was when he, a meat-loving Brazilian, discovered I was vegan. Eventually he got over it, and we set our sights on a real life date. Covid restrictions meant we'd have to keep two metres apart, but at least we'd be able to chat without worrying about the wi-fi going down. I was excited but also very nervous. He seemed perfect on paper and over the internet, but what about in real life? I drove to Bristol in my best outfit - a long, over-sized summer dress that concealed the fact I hadn't exercised or shaved my legs in four months. Towards me wandered a tall man in a bright blue t-shirt, shorts and flip flops. Dishevelled hair and a light smattering of salt and pepper stubble. It felt a bit like Tom Hanks had put it in one of my all time favourite romcoms, Sleepless In Seattle: "It was like... coming home. Only, to no home I'd ever known". The proposal We had a great time and decided to meet again the next day for a picnic. We sat near a river. It was a perfect summer's day. And I was about to make the strangest and most impulsive decision of my life. "Lorna." "Yes?" "Will you marry me?" I picked up a crisp. "Yeah definitely," I replied. "Ok thank you," he said. "Let's go for another swim." As proposals go, it was perfect. But I hadn't expected to say yes to a man I'd only met the day before. Friends' reactions varied. One asked if this was a sketch for BBC Wales Sesh, a platform I contributed to regularly. Another asked if I was having a mental breakdown. One asked if I was perhaps the victim of a scam? Part of me knew it sounded crazy, getting engaged to someone after 24 hours. But it didn't feel any less right. Days after the engagement we discussed when we might see each other again. "I've got a three-bedroom flat. Why don't you move in?" No regrets By November, we'd both settled into pandemic monotony. Getting engaged in a plague was all well and good, but we'd missed out on so much. It wasn't like the honeymoon period had ended - we hadn't had one! It was as though we'd been together 30 years! It seemed improbably romantic. We had fallen in love at first sight. We'd lived, laughed and cried through months of difficulties - and still wanted to be together. I have no regrets about getting engaged to a stranger and moving him into my flat within a week. We're not sure when we can actually get married. When we met last summer, we had hopes it could happen spring or early summer 2021, but the pandemic is making that seem increasingly unlikely. We'd really like his family and friends to be able to travel over from Brazil. As we face our first Valentine's Day together, I wonder what we can do to celebrate it. Perhaps we'll take a chilly picnic to the park, and sit next to a river. For old time's sake. Although - relatively speaking - it isn't that long at all. I hope my improbable real life love story inspires others seeking love online to keep going. As my mum's fond of saying: "Mae na frân i bob frân" - "There's a crow for every crow". It just happens that my crow is a Carioca. When Lorna Met Leo: Love in the time of Covid is available on BBC Sounds and will be repeated on BBC Radio Wales at 19:00 GMT on14 February, Valentine's Day. Around the BBC BBC Sounds

जब कोरोनावायरस के प्रसार को रोकने की कोशिश में वेल्स को बंद कर दिया गया था, तो कॉमेडियन लोर्ना प्रिचार्ड ने सोचा कि यह डेटिंग की दुनिया में उनकी नियोजित वापसी को रोक देगा। लेकिन फिल्म प्रशंसक ऑनलाइन चला गया, उसे अपना हीरो मिल गया और उसे प्यार हो गया। यहाँ वह बताती है कि कैसे उसने अपना सुखद अंत पाया।


Is the law tough enough on killer drivers?

Summary: Two young men have been jailed for a high-speed car crash that killed a taxi driver and his passenger - the latest in a series of similar cases in England. Are the penalties for such drivers sufficient? Even the judge, sentencing them to seven-and-a-half years apiece, admitted the length of the prison terms "will no doubt be questioned".

By Tom AireyBBC News Judge Jonathan Durham Hall said he was obliged to give the pair credit for their guilty pleas - despite his view that the case was "approaching the worst" of its kind. Muhammad Sikder, 27, and Ismail Miah, 23, were racing each other in their high-performance cars when they caused the fatal crash in Bradford in January. The maximum possible jail sentence for causing death by dangerous driving is 14 years, while causing death by careless driving carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. But road safety charity Brake says the average prison sentence handed out to those convicted of killing someone while driving is under four years. "In 30 years, the longest sentence I saw handed out was six," said John Scruby, a former traffic officer. Mr Scruby, now a trustee for the West Yorkshire road charity SCARD, added: "It's appalling how families are treated. "As a family liaison officer, I had to tell them, 'don't get your hopes up for a custodial sentence' as some cases aren't even passed up to the crown court. "Judges are obviously tied by what they can do, but they are very reluctant to hand out the maximum sentence." Causing death by careless driving Causing death by dangerous driving Source: Brake James Gilbey was killed on a pedestrian crossing in Leeds last year, with his body struck at such speed it travelled 70m down the road. Majid Malik and Kaiz Mahmood, who were racing in separate cars at the time of the crash, both received sentences of eight years for causing death by dangerous driving. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today, Mr Gilbey's father Maj Richard Gilbey said: "They have got a huge reduction from the maximum sentence and you don't feel it's enough. "They didn't choose to kill James, but all of their actions were conscious actions and decisions - they chose to drive at 90mph, they chose to race, leave James and burn their clothes [to destroy evidence]. "All of those things tied together can't be a driving-related incident, it's manslaughter at the very least." At a Westminster Hall debate on the issue earlier this week, Claire Perry MP called on the government to introduce tougher penalties for motorists convicted of causing death by dangerous driving. The Conservative MP for Devizes said: "These gentleman killed James Gilbey as surely as if they had thrown a knife down a crowded street or fired a gun. "Their weapon of choice just happened to be two tonnes of steel driving at 90mph. "Surely the maximum tariff for the worst kind of death by dangerous driving, which these defendants committed, should be lifetime imprisonment." Justice minister Sam Gyimah said the Sentencing Council - an independent body that aims to promote consistency in sentencing in England and Wales - was reviewing guidelines relating to such driving offences with new draft guidance to be set out "in due course". He said: "As the prime minister made clear last week there are deep concerns around the law on dangerous driving and the sentencing powers that are currently available to the courts. "For too long these concerns have not been acted upon." Mr Gyimah reaffirmed the government's commitment to consult on the penalties for dangerous driving offences and insisted ministers want to make sure that the punishments "fit the crime". However, Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, said he thought the offence of causing death by dangerous driving was "treated very seriously" and did provide "the adequate punishment". He said: "There is nothing to suggest that manslaughter charges would lead to higher sentences. "I can see there might be arguments about a review of maximum sentences, but it has already been raised - it's now up to 14 years. "One also has to keep a sense of proportion with other offences." But for Maj Gilbey, the current laws simply do not reflect the seriousness of some drivers' actions. "Just because their weapon of choice was a vehicle, why does it have to be downgraded to a driving-related offence?"

दो युवाओं को तेज गति वाली कार दुर्घटना के लिए जेल भेजा गया है जिसमें एक टैक्सी चालक और उसके यात्री की मौत हो गई थी-इंग्लैंड में इसी तरह के मामलों की एक श्रृंखला में नवीनतम। क्या ऐसे चालकों के लिए दंड पर्याप्त है? यहां तक कि न्यायाधीश ने भी स्वीकार किया कि उन्हें साढ़े सात साल की सजा सुनाई गई है, जेल की अवधि पर "निस्संदेह सवाल उठाया जाएगा"।


Fort William sees super-fast broadband upgrade

Summary: Super-fast broadband services have officially launched in Fort William.

More than 3,240 homes and businesses in the Lochaber town now have access to the high-speed technology, installed as part of the BT Openreach programme. This figure will increase to around 3,880 as engineers complete the local upgrade in the weeks ahead. Highland Council leader Drew Hendry said the upgrade would help stimulate local businesses and create jobs. Mr Hendry said: "Super-fast fibre broadband in Fort William offers huge benefits to local residents and businesses and will help our local economy to flourish. Better, faster communications help businesses to grow and stimulate job creation. "The arrival of fibre broadband means local people and firms can do more online at faster speeds and on multiple devices. "This is great news for many people in Fort William and I look forward to fibre broadband being rolled out across the rest of the Highlands." In Scotland, BT said it was investing about £126m in fibre broadband partnerships with the Scottish government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Broadband Delivery UK), European Regional Development Fund and Scotland's local authorities. BT Scotland director Brendan Dick said: "Businesses tell us it's helping them in a wealth of ways, from day to day activities like downloading software, collaborating with clients and moving large data files around to big business decisions like expanding the workforce or introducing better quality IT services at less cost."

फोर्ट विलियम में सुपर-फास्ट ब्रॉडबैंड सेवाओं को आधिकारिक तौर पर शुरू कर दिया गया है।


Arrest after cyclist dies in A31 Bentley van crash

Summary: A man has been arrested after a cyclist died in a crash with a van on the A31 in Hampshire.

The crash, involving a white Ford Transit van, happened near the junction with Station Road at Bentley just before 19:30 BST on Wednesday, police said. The cyclist, a man in his 40s, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries where he later died. A man in his 20s is being questioned in connection with the crash. Both carriageways of the road were closed until the early hours while officers investigated the scene. Hampshire Constabulary has appealed for any witnesses to contact them.

हैम्पशायर में ए31 पर एक वैन के साथ दुर्घटना में एक साइकिल चालक की मौत के बाद एक व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Simon Armitage pays tribute to 'one-off' Ted Hughes

Summary: At a service on the 6 December the name of Ted Hughes, former Poet Laureate, will take its place in the South Transept of Westminster Abbey, in that part of the building colloquially known as Poets' Corner.

By Simon ArmitagePoet Geoffrey Chaucer, one of the founding fathers of British poetry, was buried here, and although he was being recognised as an employee of the Abbey rather than for anything he had written, the practice of honouring the greatest poets of the age with a tomb or a stone has developed into a 600-year tradition. Dryden, Tennyson, Browning and Hardy are buried in Poets' Corner, and Milton, Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, Blake, Hopkins and Eliot are memorialised there. It is, is could be argued, poetry's most exclusive club, or as close as a poet might come to immortality here on earth. Hell-raisers like Byron have to wait for the scandal to die down and the dust to settle before being offered a berth in such sacred surroundings, though why it has taken 13 years of questioning and campaigning for Hughes to be recognised in this way is something of a mystery. Edward James Hughes was born in Mytholmroyd in West Yorkshire in 1930, and right from the outset his tone of voice and subject matter set him apart from other poets of his generation. Compared with the urban and urbane styles of his post-war contemporaries whose poems often looked like crossword puzzles or elaborate word-games, Hughes's approach was elemental and unpretentious, almost as if the poems had grown out of the earth. He came to immediate attention with his first book, Hawk in the Rain, and from that moment on was never far from the literary headlines, either because of the singular quality of his work or through his now infamous marriage to Sylvia Plath and her subsequent suicide. When another lover took her own life and that of their daughter, Hughes's name was forever linked with tragedy and the sensationalism that accompanies it, though the writing never stopped, and included work for children, theatre, radio, critical commentaries, translation and always, at the heart of it, poetry. 'Acts of magic' In 1998 he published Birthday Letters, his belated poetic response to the all-too-public terrors of his personal life. Birthday Letters became that rare thing - a poetry bestseller - and one in which the potentially explosive subject matter was brought under control through the measured artistry of his writing. Hughes won the Whitbread Book prize twice. For me, Birthday Letters was a reminder of what I had felt all along, that Hughes was a one-off, a writer with an unparalleled natural gift, a once-in-a-generation poet, whose work was a major contribution to English Literature. Reading his poems in the classroom at school all those years ago had been like experiencing spell-binding acts of magic. When he wrote about a bull, I could smell it; when he wrote about a jaguar, I could sense it to the point where the hairs on the back of my neck stood up; when he wrote about a bayonet charge, I wasn't just witnessing it, I was experiencing it, going over the top in the "cold clockwork of the stars and nations," into the bullets and bombs. Those were adult poems, germinating and burgeoning and multiplying wildly in my young imagination, something that several generations of students have gone on to appreciate. For although Hughes's themes are often complex and cerebral, his poetry is nearly always approachable and engaging, even to the common reader. It is a balance that not all writers understand and even fewer achieve, and one of the main reasons I believe we will still be reading Hughes (assuming we will be "reading" at all) in future centuries. Hughes was only 68 when he died, and at that time Seamus Heaney was moved to describe him as "a guardian spirit of the land and language". In those terms, it seems entirely fitting that this great man of words should take his place in such hallowed ground, among his forbears and equals.

6 दिसंबर को एक सेवा में पूर्व कवि पुरस्कार विजेता टेड ह्यूजेस का नाम वेस्टमिंस्टर एबे के दक्षिण ट्रांसेप्ट में होगा, जिसे बोलचाल की भाषा में पोएट्स कॉर्नर के नाम से जाना जाता है।


Derby sex assaults: Man pleads guilty after cyclist appeal

Summary: A man has admitted a series of sex attacks after a police appeal to trace a cyclist.

Officers had received reports of a man riding past teenage girls and grabbing them in Derby city centre. Csaba Kiss, 35, of St Chads Road, Derby, pleaded guilty to 22 counts of sexual assault at Derby Crown Court earlier. He has been remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced at the same court on January 14. Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk.

साइकिल चालक का पता लगाने की पुलिस की अपील के बाद एक व्यक्ति ने यौन हमलों की एक श्रृंखला को स्वीकार किया है।


Police pay review: Politicians and groups react

Summary: An independent review of police pay and conditions has recommended big cuts in perks and bonuses, including saving £60m a year in overtime - but there are fears 28,000 jobs could be lost. Politicians, police groups and others give their reaction.

Association of Chief Police Officers Acpo predicts the jobs of 12,000 police officers and 16,000 civilian staff will be lost as a result of the cuts - a reduction of about 12% of posts. Chief Constable Peter Fahy, Acpo's lead on workforce development, said "hugely difficult" decisions would have to be taken but most forces were realistic sacrifices had to be made. He said he was pleased bonuses for chief officers had been suspended and that no evidence was found suggesting abuses of overtime were prevalent. The review would lay "lasting foundations" for the service, he added. Police Federation of England and Wales Chairman Paul McKeever said: "These recommendations, if implemented, together with the two-year pay freeze and a likely increase in pension contributions, will have a devastating effect on policing. "Police officers are likely to suffer a 15-20% reduction in the value of their pay. "Officers and their families are paying the price for the failure of the home secretary to safeguard policing from the 20% cut on the service imposed by the Treasury." He added: "We have to work a way around the law. We do not have a right to strike. We are being bullied at the moment." Policing Minister Nick Herbert He said: "We have to deal with the deficit, and police forces can and must make savings, focusing on back and middle office functions like IT and procurement so that front-line services can be protected. "But when three-quarters of force budgets goes on pay, reform of pay and conditions is also essential to protect police jobs and keep officers on the streets." Association of Police Authorities The organisation said the Winsor review was a "once in a generation opportunity to see police pay reformed". Chairman Rob Garnham said: "Police authorities are ready for the challenge of change, to deliver a modern, effective pay system that delivers value for money. "This means a system that is fair to both police officers and staff and the taxpayer." Metropolitan Police Federation Chairman Peter Smyth said: "Whichever way it is dressed up, Mr Winsor has produced a formula for slashing police pay. "When officers have deciphered the report's opaque language and realise the reality of the massive cuts to the police pay budget, they will be dismayed and very angry." He said plans to pay officers according to performance would "unavoidably create a mushrooming of bureaucratic work in the back office". Police Superintendents' Association President Derek Barnett said: "It is inevitable in any such review that there will be some winners and losers and it is important now that we take the opportunity to reflect on the huge amount of detail. "We need to recognise that police officers, along with other public servants, are facing a two-year pay freeze and a steep increase in pension contributions that will significantly reduce the take-home pay of all police officers. "This will amount to a double hit for many officers." Home Secretary Theresa May "With a record budget deficit, we are in exceptional circumstances," she told the BBC. "And with three-quarters of the police budget going on staff, then pay and conditions has to play its role in ensuring we can keep officers' jobs, keep officers on the street, and cut crime." She said it was possible for forces to make "significant" budget savings by making back offices, support services, procurement and IT more efficient. "I know up and down the country chief constables are making sure that they are protecting front-line, visible and available policing, and responsive policing," she added. Labour MP Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee "Looking at the changes that a police officer is going to have to undergo over the next few weeks, months and years, it's going to be pretty tough for them," he said. "Where it says do not just give bonuses and overtime payments for the sake of it, I think that the British public will be delighted with what is being said. But we shouldn't just single out the police in this particular circumstance." He added: "On a day when Acpo itself have said that 12,000 officers are going to lose their jobs, if you're then subsequently going to cut overtime payments in the way in which it's being suggested, then that's going to be very difficult." Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper "It is already clear that this won't stop the 28,000 police job cuts that chief constables have announced today, as a result of the 20% police budget cuts," she said. "Everyone will support sensible reforms but it's important the government works with the police on reform rather that picking a fight with the police as they tried to do last week. "The government is cutting too far too fast and hitting the police budget hard, ultimately it is local communities that will pay the price."

पुलिस वेतन और शर्तों की एक स्वतंत्र समीक्षा ने भत्ते और बोनस में बड़ी कटौती की सिफारिश की है, जिसमें ओवरटाइम में प्रति वर्ष 60 मिलियन पाउंड की बचत शामिल है-लेकिन 28,000 नौकरियां जाने की आशंका है। राजनेता, पुलिस समूह और अन्य अपनी प्रतिक्रिया देते हैं।


Guernsey coast road undergoes more temporary repairs

Summary: Further temporary repairs have been made to a hole in Guernsey's west coast sea defences, after initial repairs were weakened by waves.

Boulders were taken from Longue Hougue in St Sampson to shore up the sea wall at Perelle, St Saviour. A 10m (33ft) section of the road was washed away by a 9.9m (32ft) tide and strong winds in October last year. More permanent repairs are scheduled to be carried out in May, for which the States has gone out to tender. Jenny Giles, the project's engineer, said: "A lot of the walls are very old." "It's very difficult to say whether there are going to be any future events such as this," she said. A coastal defence study by consultants Royal Haskoning, published in August, recommended the States spend £50m in the next 20 years, to avoid significant flooding.

गुएर्नसे के पश्चिमी तट की समुद्री सुरक्षा में एक छेद की और अस्थायी मरम्मत की गई है, जब प्रारंभिक मरम्मत लहरों से कमजोर हो गई थी।


What is new about this year's A-levels?

Summary: Thousands of teenagers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are receiving their A-and AS-level results. But, in England, there have been changes to this year's A-level qualifications - the BBC News website sets out the changes.

What is different about this year's A-levels in England? Under the new system, students sit all A-level exams at the end of two years of study, instead of taking modular exams throughout the course. AS-level results no longer count towards A-level grades. No subject will have more than a 20% coursework component and most courses will be assessed entirely through exams. Resits will still be available, but January exams will be scrapped, so students will have to wait until May/June of the following year for a chance to improve their grades. Why was this change brought in? The change was brought in by the former Education Secretary Michael Gove with the intention of making the exams more "fit for purpose" - or harder. The new AS- and A-levels syllabuses have been phased in across schools in England from September 2015. The DfE says: "The content for the new A-levels has been reviewed and updated. Universities played a greater role in this for the new qualifications than they did previously." What is happening to AS-levels? The AS-level is being decoupled from the A-level, which means it operates as a stand-alone qualification and the results do not count towards A-level grades - although in Wales and Northern Ireland, they will still count towards an overall A-level mark. Provisional figures from the Department for Education show that the number of entries for AS subjects has fallen by 42% this summer. Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Geoff Barton said it "sounded the death knell for AS-levels". "The great benefit of the old system was that it gave students a broader range of knowledge and allowed them to keep their options open for longer," he said. "The decision to decouple these qualifications was an entirely unnecessary reform, which is narrowing the curriculum and reducing student choice." Which subjects are being phased in when? This year, new A-level qualifications were taken in: Next summer, candidates will sit the new A-level qualifications in the following subjects: In the summer of 2019, new exams will be sat in: Hasn't all this change been stressful for the teenagers involved? Young people and teachers have told the BBC that preparing for the new qualification has been stressful, especially as there were no past papers to refer to and some text books were written before some of the syllabuses were finalised. Rosamund McNeil, from the National Union of Teachers, said: "The upheaval of a hastily reformed curriculum and the changes leading to a reduction in much of the coursework elements, created unnecessary stress and concern for pupils and teachers alike. "While results nationally may have remained in line with those in the previous year, some schools and colleges will no doubt see considerable variation. "The volatility around results and the accountability measures which use them can have damaging and unfair consequences." What is happening elsewhere in the UK? There have been no major changes in the other nations. In Wales and Northern Ireland, AS-levels have remained as an integral part of studying for A-levels. AS-levels contribute 40% of the total marks of the full A-level and can be taken at the end of the AS course or alongside A2. In Scotland, students do not sit A-levels and AS-levels. Instead, they take Highers and Advanced Highers. This year, the Higher pass rate dipped by 0.2%, but the total number of passes remained above 150,000 for a third successive year. Reporting by BBC News education reporter Katherine Sellgren

इंग्लैंड, वेल्स और उत्तरी आयरलैंड में हजारों किशोर अपने ए-और ए. एस-स्तर के परिणाम प्राप्त कर रहे हैं। लेकिन, इंग्लैंड में, इस वर्ष की ए-स्तर की योग्यताओं में बदलाव किए गए हैं-बीबीसी समाचार वेबसाइट परिवर्तनों को निर्धारित करती है।