Death in a dynasty: What led to the demise of Kim Jong-nam?

Summary: Kim Jong-nam was the eldest son of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and the elder half-brother of current leader Kim Jong-un.

By Michael MaddenNorth Korea leadership expert Jong-nam was born in May 1971 in Pyongyang. His mother was North Korea's film actress Song Hye-rim. She was the daughter of South Korean communist intellectuals who migrated to the North during the Korean War. She was four or five years older than Kim Jong-il and was still married to another man (with whom she had a child) when they began their romantic relationship. By the conservative standards of North Korean society, this was a fairly sordid relationship, and for many years Kim Jong-il concealed his common law wife and new son from his father, Kim Il-sung. At the time of Kim Jong-nam's birth, Kim Jong-il was the leading candidate to succeed his father, and details of his relationship with Ms Song, if they had become public, could have derailed his ambitions (particularly as his nearest political rival was his despised stepmother). Because of the nature of the relationship, Kim Jong-nam was shuttered away in a large residence in central Pyongyang. As his mother suffered from a variety of physical and mental infirmities requiring treatment outside North Korea, he lived with his maternal grandmother and his maternal aunt, Song Hye-rang. The second Ms Song was an author and widow with two children of her own. 10-year odyssey When Jong-nam was an infant, his aunt, Kim Kyong-hui, (Kim Jong-il's sister) tried to take the baby away and adopt him as her own child. She was overruled, but she would always support Jong-nam. Instead, he grew up in secret, literally sealed behind palace gates. Kim Jong-il doted on his son - co-sleeping with him, eating dinner and telephoning him when he was too busy to return home. Despite rumours perpetuated by South Korean sources, Jong-nam did eventually meet and forge a relationship with grandfather Kim Il-sung. In 1979, Jong-nam began a 10-year odyssey studying and living outside North Korea. He stayed in Russia and Switzerland and eventually became fluent in French and English, returning to North Korea in the late 1980s. His exposure to the outside world and his impatience living in relative social isolation in Pyongyang and Wonsan led him to question North Korea's political and economic system. At several points, Kim Jong-il became so frustrated with Jong-nam that he threatened to send the young man to a political prison camp to work in a coal mine. According to his aunt, the threat of imprisonment was so real that the family took measures to buy adequate clothing and shoes for the day when they would be sent away. 'Party boy' Instead of being incarcerated, Jong-nam spent his 20s contending with his father's demands and unrealistic expectations. Jong-nam would never be a viable candidate as his father's successor, but he still joined the family business. He would be linked to North Korea's internal security apparatus and its foreign exchange-earning operations outside the country. During the Arduous March of the 1990s, as thousands of North Korean citizens starved to death, Jong-nam participated in audits in which central party officials reviewed the finances and business practices of state-owned factories. After some of these audits, Jong-nam would witness the public executions of factory managers accused of stealing from the state. All of this would be enough to disillusion Jong-nam about the country in which he was born and the political system his father and grandfather led. He married in the late 1990s and fathered several children. From the early 2000s onward, Jong-nam would begin to reside outside the DPRK, living at the Kim family's houses in Macau and a separate residence in Beijing. He would be tasked with managing some of the family's financial accounts (which total billions of dollars). He also would be involved in some of North Korea's illicit business operations. While Jong-nam was never directly involved in such activities as narcotics trafficking or arms smuggling, he did have an active role in seeing that some of the monies from both legitimate and illicit activities avoided the scrutiny of legal authorities. It was no accident that Jong-nam frequented casinos throughout Asia and maintaining some of these financial interests led to a jet-set lifestyle and cemented his reputation as something of a "party boy". Family rivalries Rewind back to 1979, when Jong-nam went overseas. Kim Jong-il got drunk as Jong-nam departed the country and tearfully reproached Song Hye-rang: "You... you are doing this. You are taking my boy away from me." By the late 1970s, Kim Jong-il had begun a relationship with a dancer in the prestigious Mansudae Art Troupe, an ethnic Korean repatriated from Japan named Ko Yong-hui. With his son out of the country, Kim Jong-il set up a household with Ko and fathered three children with her, the middle one being the current leader Kim Jong-un. In contrast to his other wives and common law partners, Ko actually took an interest in Pyongyang's palace politics and, what is more, Kim Jong-il fell passionately in love with her. Jong-nam would later tell an outsider that - once he had left North Korea to study - his father used his relationship with Ko and their children to fill the void left by Jong-nam. Ko was ambitious. She befriended the close aides and generals that made up her husband's entourage. When Jong-nam returned from studying abroad in the late 1980s, there were already rumours among Kim family staff that the "button nose" (referring to Ko) was positioning her children for succession, even though discussions about hereditary succession were generally prohibited and could get some North Koreans sent to the firing squad. During the late 1990s to early 2000s, Ko acted as a de-facto first lady, accompanying her husband on military inspections and greeting top North Korean leadership. This would lay the groundwork for one of sons, Jong-un or his older brother, Jong-chol, to become hereditary successor. When Jong-nam was arrested at a Tokyo airport with a counterfeit passport in May 2001, it initially served to embarrass the Kim family and other North Korean elites because it exposed the fact that they sometimes travelled using passports with assumed identities. It has been widely misinterpreted and misreported that this incident sidelined Jong-nam as hereditary successor; he never was. But this incident was used internally by Ko to press the claims that one of her sons would succeed Kim Jong-il. And so, unwittingly, the exaggerated rivalry between Jong-un and Jong-nam was born. Did Kim Jong-un have his half-brother killed? With numerous pronouncements and analyses that Jong-un is engaged in a "reign of terror" targeting North Korean political leaders or that his leadership (not to mention his mental health) are "unstable", it doesn't serve Jong-un's public image or political interests to have his half-brother assassinated. It would just feed the rumours, and one doubts that Jong-un would give his South Korean counterpart that kind of satisfaction. Jong-nam was not a threat or a credible rival to Jong-un's leadership. He had no interest in the job itself. Living outside the country as long as he has, Jong-nam could not form a power base among DPRK elites and was largely clueless about how to seize the regime's nodes of control. Jong-nam was also closely tied to Chinese elites and had lived under some protection from Chinese authorities. Within the past few months, Pyongyang has made an attempt to shore up ties with Beijing, a major ally and its largest trading partner. Unless Jong-nam had outlived his usefulness to elements of the Chinese government, it is not in Jong-un's geopolitical interests in the region to have his half-brother killed. Grandson figure Jong-nam didn't possess a significant powerbase in Pyongyang. Publicly and privately, he expressed little interest in taking the reins of power in North Korea. However, given his heritage, Jong-nam was viewed by some elderly North Korean elites as a kind of grandson figure. These elites were close comrades of Kim Il-sung. They knew Jong-nam's personal history, his back story, and so he was treated with a special affection by some of the country's top heroes. This affection and relationship could not necessarily form a basis of political support domestically, but it would have been helpful had Jong-nam ever put himself forward as a political rival to his half-brother. Read more Since Kim Jong-un assumed power in 2011, North Korea's state media have gone out of their way to show these revolutionary elders praising Jong-un. At state events, Jong-un always makes a point of greeting these elders (and being photographed and filmed doing so). This goes above and beyond merely paying respect to his elders and national heroes. Instead, for propaganda purposes, Jong-un needs to be seen as having the blessing of North Korea's founding generation. More importantly, it conveys the message that the ruling elite at least appears unified in its support for the youthful leader. If Jong-nam had been going to mount a power challenge to Jong-un, it would not have helped him that his two possible primary patrons as hereditary successor or would-be challenger to Jong-un's rule - his uncle Chang Song-thaek and his aunt Kim Kyong-hui - are no longer active in Pyongyang's power circles. Madame Kim effectively retired from political life after her husband Chang was executed on Jong-un's orders in December 2013. Spin and distortions Jong-nam had been the target and subject of disinformation in the South Korean press for almost 30 years. Because of his business and personal activities (which could possibly have seen him arrested) Jong-nam did very little to push back against the perceptions and rumours about him. He followed his father's suggestion that outsiders should only see "a fog" when looking at North Korean leadership. That said, Pyongyang watchers should give the Malaysian authorities some breathing space to do a proper investigation. Already, there are conflicting accounts about Jong-nam's purported demise. For all we know, he may have had a heart attack. Michael Madden is a visiting scholar at the US-Korea Institute at the School for Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.

किम जोंग-नाम उत्तर कोरिया के दिवंगत नेता किम जोंग-इल के सबसे बड़े बेटे और वर्तमान नेता किम जोंग-उन के बड़े सौतेले भाई थे।


Stonham murder probe: Irena Kuzmina died 'after party'

Summary: A woman whose death at a landmark pub sparked a murder investigation died after a party, police have said.

Irena Kuzmina was found unresponsive in The Magpie in Stonham Parva, Suffolk, at about 03:30 GMT on Sunday. The 45-year-old, from Purfleet in Essex, died at the scene a short time later but a post-mortem examination has been inconclusive. A 52-year-old woman from east London arrested on suspicion of murder has been released on bail until 8 December. Suffolk Police said "further tests are required" to ascertain a cause of death.

पुलिस ने कहा है कि एक महिला जिसकी एक ऐतिहासिक पब में मौत ने हत्या की जांच शुरू कर दी थी, एक पार्टी के बाद उसकी मौत हो गई।


Could Huawei be out of the UK by 2024?

Summary: Huawei equipment should be stripped out of the UK's new communications networks by the time of the next election, according to the leader of a group of rebel MPs who are unhappy at government plans to allow the Chinese telecoms group a limited role in the UK's 5G infrastructure.

Simon JackBusiness editor@BBCSimonJackon Twitter Tom Tugenhadt, chair of the China Research Group (CRG), told the BBC: "We recognise the need for businesses to deliver and roll out better and faster communication as fast as possible but the government must be able to deliver a safe network by the next election." The government is preparing to change its policy on Huawei at a meeting of the National Security Council on Tuesday. It comes after an official report said a ban on the firm's use of US chips made it harder for the UK to vet the Chinese company's equipment. Some of the rebel MPs had demanded that Huawei equipment should start to be withdrawn within months, but telecoms companies have said they need a minimum of five years to remove the equipment if the UK is to avoid service blackouts, exorbitant costs and delays in government plans to role out ultrafast broadband to all. Mr Tugenhadt's comments on Monday therefore appeared to soften the group's stance. Huawei equipment has been part of UK network equipment for the last 15 years and there are tens of thousands of green junction boxes which contain legacy equipment. While BT boss Philip Jansen has said it would be "impossible" to strip out every last piece of old Huawei kit, that is not where the political battle is currently being fought. Members of the CRG have left demands over a total strip-out of all legacy equipment deliberately vague, as they primarily seek assurances on the construction of new networks that are increasingly making much of the old networks obsolete. The 5G ban, plus allowing older Huawei equipment to be superseded, is do-able, according to Mr Jansen, who told the BBC on Monday that it was possible to get Huawei out of the new architecture by 2025. But he said compressing the job into a five-year time frame would not be without cost and risk. Sources in the telecoms industry still hope the government will avoid putting a firm date on when Huawei needs to have been excluded, but Mr Tugenhadt said that would be unacceptable. "If they don't put a date on it this side of the next election they [the government] will lose," he said. Telecoms companies also point to the fact that the extra time will allow other suppliers to develop products of a similar standard as those offered by Huawei. A telecoms company executive said: "There was a time when we bought Huawei kit because it was cheap, now they are 18 months ahead of the competition. The extra time will allow others to catch up". Although ground for compromise seems to have opened up on which the government, the CRG and the telecoms companies can land, it's still unclear how such a decision will be received in Beijing. China is deeply embedded in other critical UK infrastructure projects, with a 30% share in the construction of nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point in Somerset and plans, which have cleared several planning and approval stages, to build their own design reactor in Bradwell. Huawei may be the most important single company in the world right now - it is the front line of an economic cold war between the US and China. Even if a compromise is found on this issue, there are still some big choices ahead over which the UK government could find itself caught in the cross fire.

चीनी दूरसंचार समूह को यूके के 5जी बुनियादी ढांचे में सीमित भूमिका की अनुमति देने की सरकारी योजनाओं से नाखुश विद्रोही सांसदों के एक समूह के नेता के अनुसार, अगले चुनाव के समय तक हुआवेई उपकरण को यूके के नए संचार नेटवर्क से हटा दिया जाना चाहिए।


Smoking driver using air freshener blows up car in Wrexham

Summary: A driver caused their car to explode when they lit a cigarette after using too much air freshener, police said.

North Wales Police said people reported hearing a "loud bang" when the car exploded near the Central Retail Park in Wrexham on Friday afternoon. No-one was injured in the blast but the Audi car was destroyed. Insp Luke Hughes said the accident was caused by "the excessive use of an air freshener in the confined space of a vehicle". He said the driver then lit a cigarette "and ignited the butane propellant" in the air. Related Internet Links North Wales Police

पुलिस ने कहा कि एक चालक ने बहुत अधिक एयर फ्रेशनर का उपयोग करने के बाद सिगरेट जलाकर उनकी कार में विस्फोट कर दिया।


Reality bites for the fishing industry

Summary: Catch quotas have dismayed those with the loudest voices in the fishing industry, but some quotas are up. The coming year will see several negotiations decide the future of fishing post-Brexit. While expectations have been very high of removing foreign boats from British waters, other EU members are determined to maintain access to UK waters. If they don't get what they want, they could limit access to EU markets.

Douglas FraserBusiness/economy editor, Scotland Cod move in mysterious ways. Climate change seems to be encouraging them northwards. Similarly mysterious are the fishing negotiations that have led to cod quotas in the North Sea being cut by half, to help preserve stocks. The white fish fleet, dominated by those from north-east Scottish ports, is understandably unhappy. They say the stocks problem is in the southern North Sea. But let's not forget that others have reason for cheer. The "pelagics" - the bigger boats which you'll see in Shetland, and which go after mackerel - have had a big lift in their quota. Their tonnage and value far outweighs the more familiar white fish served in batter with chips. This has become part of the pre-Christmas ritual. Fisheries ministers meet in Brussels, talk for two days, and reach a conclusion well into the early hours. They then emerge, bleary-eyed and talking a baffling language featuring words intended to obfuscate, such as "measures" and "effort". And in sort of pre-Christmas miracle, all of them claim to have won concessions. For Britain, that's almost certain to change. And the dismay at the loss of catch quota for the white fish fleet is allied to expectations that Brexit will make things much better. So, will it? Let's start with 2020. Although the UK is due to leave the European Union on 31 January, the deal struck this week in Brussels will apply to the subsequent 11 months as well. That's while Britain is in the transition stage. Assuming - as the prime minister, would like us to do - that the transition ends on 31 December 2020, the big change will come when the 2021 fishing quotas are set, a year from now. What happens after Brexit? If there were to be a "no deal" departure, the UK government has already set out plans for a big step up in aerial and naval policing of UK waters, to keep European boats out. UK boats would not have easy access to EU ports. During autumn, the UK government also set out the complex arrangements and paperwork that would be required for exports of fish and shellfish from Britain. But if it's more amicable, several deals will have to be struck. One will be the over-arching deal on the future relationship between the UK and EU. Others would follow from that, with annual talks on access to UK waters and on quota, not only with the remaining EU members but with Norway, Iceland and the Faroes. These "independent coastal states" fix annual deals on shared stocks with the European Union. It was such a deal with Norway last Friday that made the 50% cod quota cut inevitable. Under the EU's much-criticised Common Fisheries Policy, boats from other EU nations are able to catch in UK waters. They have "historic" fishing rights, which are entrenched and rolled over each year. And they've bought quota from UK skippers. So more than 60% of the tonnage caught from UK waters is caught by foreign boats. The expectation is that that's going to change, a lot. But there are problems with that: That's where the main negotiation with the EU comes in, because fishing rights will be in the mix with all sorts of other issues to be discussed. An industry with political clout Fishing is important to coastal communities, but a very small part of the UK economy - around 0.05%. Nevertheless, they are seen as politically potent. The support of fishermen for Brexit was an important part of both the Brexit referendum campaign and the recent Conservative election campaign, where the party held seats in north-east Scotland. It's the same on the other side of the North Sea, and in France and Spain. Fishing communities have political clout in these countries as well. In national capitals and in Brussels, notice has been served that they expect continued access to UK waters in any deal about trade. The new European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, gave special mention to fisheries, alongside transport and education, when she said at a summit on Friday that the UK-EU post-Brexit deal has to be about a lot more than trade. The EU27's leverage is through having the big market. They can say that access to EU markets, for processed fish or anything else, will be dependent on access for EU boats to UK waters. The question of access How much access? Well, that's down to negotiation. And alongside fish will be the demands of manufacturers, the finance sector, and everyone else with different priorities and with greater economic and political clout than fishing. The more realistic participants in this debate concede that there won't be a simple ejection, but maybe a reduction in EU27 quota over several years. The Scottish Fishermen's Federation argues that there is no precedent for linking access to waters with access to markets. True. But there's no precedent for Brexit either. And there are other British interests at play, which are at odds with those who want bigger catch quotas. If it's not complicated enough for you, now consider the internal affairs of the UK. We could see UK/Northern Irish fishing boats landing catch from UK waters in Northern Irish ports which, under Boris Johnson's Brexit deal, would avoid any future tariffs because they would be in an all-Ireland market. That would put them at a competitive advantage over boats from other parts of the UK. So should there be a special Northern Irish quota, to counteract that market distortion? Unrealistic expectations And fishing is largely devolved. So when the CFP no longer applies, Holyrood, as well as Cardiff Bay, will be demanding Scottish and Welsh control over fishing waters. Most of the UK fishing industry operates out of Scottish ports. But will that count for much? As things stand. Whitehall will listen to Scottish lobbying, but will have the final say. There have been a lot of unrealistic expectations over Brexit - "fish pie in the sky," as Scottish fisheries minister Fergus Ewing described them on Radio Scotland. Many seem to assume that politics and Brussels is what has been wrong with the industry, and forget that it also has a lot to do with over-fishing and the continuing problem of vulnerable fish stocks. As reality bites, this is going to be one of the most difficult issues to be faced in the year ahead.

कैच कोटा ने मछली पकड़ने के उद्योग में सबसे तेज आवाज वाले लोगों को निराश किया है, लेकिन कुछ कोटा समाप्त हो गए हैं। आने वाले वर्ष में कई वार्ताएं ब्रेक्सिट के बाद मछली पकड़ने के भविष्य का फैसला करती दिखेंगी। जबकि ब्रिटिश जल से विदेशी नौकाओं को हटाने की उम्मीदें बहुत अधिक हैं, अन्य यूरोपीय संघ के सदस्य ब्रिटेन के जल तक पहुंच बनाए रखने के लिए दृढ़ हैं। यदि उन्हें वह नहीं मिलता है जो वे चाहते हैं, तो वे यूरोपीय संघ के बाजारों तक पहुंच को सीमित कर सकते हैं।


Loch Hill wind farm appeal lodged

Summary: An appeal has been lodged after a bid to build 11 turbines on land north east of St John's Town of Dalry in southern Scotland was rejected.

Dumfries and Galloway Council planning officials had recommended approval of the 2020 Renewables development subject to a number of conditions. However, councillors refused it due to its "visual and cumulative impact on the surrounding area". An appeal argues the plans aim to minimise environmental impact. The proposals was the subject of significant opposition with more than 50 objections lodged. Developers said it could have brought "substantial economic benefits" to the region. They have now appealed to the Scottish government over the rejection of the bid.

दक्षिणी स्कॉटलैंड में सेंट जॉन्स टाउन ऑफ डेली के उत्तर पूर्व में भूमि पर 11 टर्बाइन बनाने की बोली खारिज होने के बाद एक अपील दायर की गई है।


'Don't take away our healthcare' says Trump country

Summary: The Central Appalachian mountain ranges in Kentucky are home to some of the poorest - and most fervent - Trump supporters. But what happens in the next few weeks hundreds of miles away in Washington could shape their future.

By Laura BickerBBC News, Whitesburg, Kentucky Dr Van Breeding is tireless and determined. He has been up since four and it's now late in the afternoon. He still has a roomful of patients to see, a late night clinic to run, and several medical students to mentor, but he simply smiles. "This is why I became a doctor. I have to be an advocate for my patients. My heart is in these hills and with these people, " he says. The 55-year-old with the frame of a boxer is fighting a war and right now he's not sure if politicians stand ready to help him or hinder him. Every day he is on the front line in the battle against a rising number of patients suffering from ill health and the opioid epidemic sweeping his home state of Kentucky. His endeavour, and skill, have won him the title of Country Doctor of the Year. He never stops. His staff wonder if there could actually be two of him. They complain about the steady stream of text messages they get before sunrise. To talk to him they hover in the clinic corridors to try to catch him as he rushes from room to room. But they also know why he's so driven. This area has rates of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity that are among the worst in the US. Dr Breeding fears Washington is so busy looking at the politics of healthcare provision that they've forgotten about the kinds of problems he has to deal with daily. "There shouldn't be any sides. There are no sides to this. The only side is great health care for every American." He believes that they should be looking at the kind of healthcare models used in the UK and France. "Other countries have done it. They've set the groundwork for us. We can take what they've done and use it and build on it to make it the best programme in the world. "That's why the United States is as strong as it is. We've always taken things and made them better. Why can't we take a healthcare product and make it better instead of fighting over it." Dr Breeding was born and bred in Whitesburg in Letcher County. Most of his school friends used to work in mining. There was good money to be made at the coal face. The odd truck still kicks up dust over the highway making its way from one of the few mines still open. But most are derelict and there are not many other options in the Appalachian mountains. If you ask who's to blame, people give you one name. Barack Obama. The former president's climate change agenda may not have been popular here but his health reforms have had a real impact. The new buildings in this town belong to the health centres and almost half of Dr Breeding's patients have their costs covered by Medicaid, a government programme for the poor which was expanded during the Obama administration. It means that a trip to the doctor won't cost them their rent, or their weekly food shop. Claude Lucas says Medicaid has saved his life. It has paid for the medication which keeps him alive. He has black lung disease after inhaling coal dust for 27 years. When the mine closed, he lost his job and his health insurance. He coughs as Dr Breeding examines his laboured breathing. He is 51 years old and his life is now limited. He is unable to work and without Medicaid he might not be here at all as he could not afford the kind of treatment he needs. Kentucky put their faith in the new president because of his pledge to re-open the coal mines. In Letcher County, 80% of voters chose Donald Trump. They also believed his promise that Medicaid would be preserved. But Republicans are considering drastic cuts to the programme. That has made Catherine Collins angry. She is paralysed and in a wheel chair after a car accident 12 years ago. She is determined to try to walk again, but to do that she needs regular physical therapy. Again, her costs are covered by Medicaid. "I think Donald Trump is just taking into consideration his concerns and he's not thinking about the little people. I don't know what he's thinking. He promised a lot to get in the office. And he's went back on a lot. Big words were spoken. A lot of lies were told by him." But there is a larger question. Who should pay to help those who can't? Insurance premiums have soared as companies try to recoup costs. Matthew Caudill keeps himself healthy and works hard. He believes the President Obama's Affordable Care Act has been a real mess for him and his family. He used to pay $43 (£33) a month for coverage for himself and his two children - he now pays $400 a month and he says his deductibles are so high he may never get to use the benefits. "It has devastated my family's coverage. I find myself unable to feel sorry for anybody else when my children's coverage is so poor. I must worry about my family first. If nothing changes then this will get much worse in the coming years." The future generations of Letcher County are in peril and decisions taken 500 miles away in Washington could have a profound impact. One of the most controversial is how to fund treatment for the opioid addiction which touches nearly every household here? Cortney Akeman is four months pregnant and is slowly being weaned off various drugs including Fentanyl. Her first son Mason was born shaking and turned blue because she couldn't quit. This time she's determined to do better. "There are a lot of pregnant women affected by drug use, but most of them are receiving help now. Without it you'd watch this place go down bad." Dr Breeding's Mountain Comprehensive Care Centre runs a programme to try to help pregnant women before they give birth to a drug addicted baby. Patients don't have to pay for it as it is covered by Medicaid, but that is being reconsidered in the latest draft of the health bill. Cortney is cleaning up a trailer for her new family to live in, and she's hoping to go back to school once she is drug free. "I'm a little bit nervous. I always will be I guess. I will always have that fear of getting back on drugs but I'm excited. More excited than nervous because I can't wait to just be back normal." She laughs. "I know that probably sounds crazy to say that but I just can't wait to have my life back together and focus on other things than getting that feeling every day." Dr Breeding believes this type of preventative medicine will save money in the long run and it should help break the cycle of abuse. But he is also a pragmatist. He knows that federal funds can't keep flowing to Letcher County. "I think we all should have the same insurance. If we said that from President Trump down to me and any of my patients that we all had the same insurance I think we would all be bought into making sure that it worked right for everyone." The cry I heard over and over from Letcher County was the same. Don't take away our health care. Donald Trump described his voters as the forgotten of America. People here are hoping that he will not turn his back on them now. Follow Laura @BBCLBicker More on the healthcare debate

केंटकी में सेंट्रल एपलाचियन पर्वत श्रृंखलाएँ कुछ सबसे गरीब-और सबसे उत्साही-ट्रम्प समर्थकों का घर हैं। लेकिन अगले कुछ हफ्तों में सैकड़ों मील दूर वाशिंगटन में जो होता है वह उनके भविष्य को आकार दे सकता है।


Thirteen killed in India factory fire

Summary: At least 13 people have died in a fire that broke out at a garment factory in the northern Indian city of Ghaziabad.

Police said three people also suffered injuries and were receiving treatment. The fire started at 4:30am (local time), most likely due to an electrical fault, and it took several hours for the fire brigade to bring the blaze under control, they added. Fires break out regularly in small factories around the country due to poor maintenance and safety measures. Local police spokesperson Bhagwat Singh told the AFP news agency that the workers were sleeping when the fire broke out in the factory in Ghaziabad, a Delhi suburb. The factory reportedly manufactures leather jackets.

उत्तर भारत के गाजियाबाद शहर में एक कपड़ा कारखाने में आग लगने से कम से कम 13 लोगों की मौत हो गई है।


We Are Stoke-on-Trent: What links the Titanic and oatcakes?

Summary: The captain of the Titanic was from Stoke-on-Trent, a city of six towns where the local delicacy is the oatcake. As part of our We Are Stoke-on-Trent project, our readers have asked us to tell them more about Edward Smith, the city federation and a pancake-like treat with fans across the world.

'The millionaire's captain' Reader Samantha Brown got in touch to ask us to tell the story of the Titanic's captain, Edward John Smith, who was born in Well Street in Hanley in 1850. The son of a pottery presser and a grocer, Smith attended Etruria British School before starting work at age 12 at the Etruria Forge, where he operated a steam hammer. A few years later, he went to Liverpool to follow in the footsteps of his half-brother Joseph, who was in the Merchant Navy, and was apprenticed as an ordinary sailor. By the age of 25 he had passed his master's certificate of competency to command a vessel and by 1880 had joined the White Star Line where he rose through the ranks to captain some of the biggest ships of the day. He married Sarah Eleanor Pennington, a farmer's daughter, in 1887, and their only child, Helen Melville Smith, was born in 1898. More from the We Are Stoke-on-Trent project: Smith told a New York Times reporter in 1907 he had "never experienced any problems at sea". That same year, White Star revealed plans to build three new ships - the Olympic, the Titanic and the Gigantic. The Olympic went into service in 1911 and was captained by Smith, who now held the rank of commander. By this point, he had become known as the "millionaire's captain", the number one choice for the aristocrats of the time - many of whom chose to sail with him because of his reputation for safety and affability. In April 1912, while the Olympic was in for repairs, he took command of the supposedly "unsinkable" RMS Titanic for its maiden transatlantic voyage from Southampton to New York. When it departed, the ship was carrying 885 crew members and 1,316 passengers. Smith was awoken about 20 minutes before midnight on 14 April after the ship hit an iceberg. The liner sank less than three hours later at about 02:20. About 1,500 people perished, including Smith who went down with his ship. A number of different accounts emerged about what the captain's last movements were, with one version that he dived into the sea as the bridge of the ship went under. The British inquiry into what happened found that Smith had ordered the ship to travel too fast and that the lifeboats had not been filled before being lowered, but it was made clear that "negligence cannot be said to have had any part". Smith's portrait was hung in his former school in 1913 and later a plaque was installed in Hanley Town Hall, while a further plaque was installed at his former home in 2012 to mark 100 years since the ship's sinking. A bronze statue of him stands in Lichfield's Beacon Park in south Staffordshire. A tale of six towns Reader John Jones, 59, spent time in and around Staffordshire as a child and now lives on the Fylde coast in Lancashire. He asked: "Stoke-on-Trent is a bit confusing as it is a combination of small towns. Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall. Why is Stoke made up like this?" The idea of a federation came about in response to the need to share responsibility for things like public health, education and law and order, according to Stoke-on-Trent Live. In 1888 an amendment was proposed to the Local Government Bill that would have made the six towns into districts within a county of "Staffordshire Potteries". It was not until 1 April 1910 that the six towns were brought together, a spokeswoman for Stoke-on-Trent City Council said. At the time, this federation of the Potteries towns was unique in local government terms and heralded the start of a new era, she said. On 5 June 1925 King George V visited Stoke-on-Trent and gave it the status of city by royal letters patent, she said. 'Potteries poppadom' Several of our readers got in touch to ask us to shine a light on the Staffordshire oatcake. This savoury snack is revered in its birthplace, and as far afield as Arizona. The basic recipe reportedly goes back to the 17th Century and includes oatmeal, flour and yeast. They can be served sweet or savoury, with the most popular toppings including bacon, cheese and jam. Local nicknames include Potteries poppadom, Tunstall tortilla and Clay suzette. Oatcakes are so popular in Stoke-on-Trent that since 2010 there's even been a special Oatcake Day every year on 8 August. This article was created as part of We are Stoke-on-Trent, a BBC project with the people of the city to tell us the stories which matter to them. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone.

टाइटैनिक का कप्तान छह शहरों के शहर स्टोक-ऑन-ट्रेंट से था, जहाँ स्थानीय व्यंजन ओटकेक है। हमारी वी आर स्टोक-ऑन-ट्रेंट परियोजना के हिस्से के रूप में, हमारे पाठकों ने हमें एडवर्ड स्मिथ, शहर संघ और दुनिया भर के प्रशंसकों के साथ एक पैनकेक जैसी दावत के बारे में अधिक बताने के लिए कहा है।


Media consider ICC 'dead' after Bashir exit

Summary: Sudanese media are treating President Omar al-Bashir as a hero after he avoided being arrested in South Africa on the orders of the International Criminal Court (ICC), while commentators elsewhere deplore the decline in the court's reputation and clout.

Sudanese TV showed the triumphant arrival of the president back home in Khartoum, travelling around the airport in an open-top Landrover, with people chasing the vehicle and singing, "With our blood and souls we shall defend you, Bashir!" Sudanese papers are painting his return as the final nail in the ICC's coffin after years of failing to have him arrested. "Large crowds welcome Bashir and bury the ICC" reads a headline in Al-Ra'y al-Amm. Alwan's editorial says smugly that "His Excellency the President, his advisors and his close circle knew that he would leave and come back without them touching a hair on his head." Columnist Bashir Hamid Jum'ah sets a general tone of gushing praise in Al-Mijhar al-Siyasi, saying that the president is now a "star". "Every summit will now want to have him as a participant, because he will give it a standing and a sense of glamour". Al-Watan's editorial thanks South Africa and the AU for proving they are "strong willed in confronting the new colonialism." Other Sudanese commentators say that the incident leaves the ICC's reputation in tatters. Dhia al-Din Balal writes in Al-Sudani: "The fact that most African countries who are signatories to the Rome Statute of the Hague Court received President Bashir means in practical terms that they have left the court's statute; actions always speak louder than words". However, Al-Maydan newspaper, the mouthpiece of the opposition Sudanese Communist Party, defies the general tone of bravado, insisting that "Dafur crimes will not be dropped due to the passage of time." 'Snub' South African newspapers are leading with AU chairperson Robert Mugabe's comments that President Zuma had allegedly promised the AU that Bashir would not be arrested. South Africa's Times Live illustrates the story with a picture of the two leaders grinning. The Mail and Guardian further quotes Mugabe railing against the ICC, saying, "We don't want it in this region at all... The ICC was there to help us try cases, especially cases of violence in any country during an election, but those who signed are now regretting it." The Cape Times focuses on a call by the governing African National Congress (ANC) for South Africa - and indeed the entire continent - to leave the ICC. But a commentator in the Cape Argus paper is worried that South Africa's need to win friends and influence others in Africa is trumping its international obligations. "It is prepared to snub those who believed South Africa was still committed to international justice... The real winner is impunity," writes Jeremy Sarkin. "Hopefully, the courts remain the beacon of hope and ensure that South Africa is held to its international obligations, and that there are consequences for it not doing so. The world needs an ICC that can hold accountable those who commit international crimes. " 'Flawed institution' The New York Times points the finger of blame for President Bashir's escape squarely on Pretoria. "This could not have happened without the complicity of the South African government, which deserves international condemnation," it says in an editorial. "The biggest losers are the innocent victims of Mr Bashir's cruel policies in Darfur who are still being denied justice." The paper warns that "South Africa cannot help but compromise its leadership position in Africa if it insists on reneging on its international commitments and protecting ruthless leaders accused of war crimes." The UK's Independent has no illusions that South Africa will be held to account, saying the ICC has no teeth. "Realpolitik usually triumphs over international justice. Like so many other flawed institutions, the ICC is all we have, and we should support it, but it is not much of a threat to anyone." BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

अंतर्राष्ट्रीय आपराधिक न्यायालय (आई. सी. सी.) के आदेश पर दक्षिण अफ्रीका में गिरफ्तार होने से बचने के बाद सूडानी मीडिया राष्ट्रपति उमर अल-बशीर को एक नायक के रूप में मान रहा है, जबकि अन्य जगहों पर टिप्पणीकार अदालत की प्रतिष्ठा और प्रभाव में गिरावट की निंदा करते हैं।


The cute creature Sweden wants to wipe out

Summary: They look cute and cuddly and are sometimes kept as pets - but raccoon dogs are a menace, threatening wildlife across Europe. Sweden is so worried about their impact that it has trained a team to hunt and kill the animals, with the unwitting help of creatures made to betray their mates.

By Keith MooreBBC News, Sweden It's mid-April and on the Gulf of Bothnia between Sweden and Finland, the ice covering the sea is still a metre thick. It's where Ludde Noren and Viktor Medstrom, two professional hunters from the Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management have switched off their snowmobiles and are using GPS tracking equipment to try to detect signals of an unwelcome visitor. The animal they are looking for is a raccoon dog, a fox-like creature native to East Asia that has a similar face to a raccoon but is a member of the canine family. The beeps coming from the tracking equipment are weak, so it's back on the snowmobiles to roar across the vast expanse of the frozen sea towards a small island. Per-Arne Ahlen who leads Sweden's project to eradicate raccoon dogs, is with them too. He says the animals were first released in the European parts of the former Soviet Union by biologists as a source of fur. "Economic success 80 years ago, today an ecological disaster," he says. An ecological disaster, he explains, because raccoon dogs feed on amphibians and ground-nesting birds in wetland areas. "Amphibian species can go extinct in areas with a high raccoon dog population," Ahlen says. Along with the Arctic fox, they reproduce more quickly than any other canine species. A million are born every year in Finland, and there are thousands more in Germany. They have been sighted as far west as France and the Netherlands, Ahlen says. Find out more Sweden's plan to eradicate raccoon dogs began a decade ago, when they were first spotted in the far north of the country - now the animals are hunted to reduce the threat to biodiversity. Some of the work is done from an office in Lulea, a city 900km (560 miles) north of the capital Stockholm. The staff there receive thousands of sightings from members of the public every year, which are then followed up by field staff. There are also cameras on the main routes between Sweden and Finland which can detect raccoon dogs as they arrive in the country. And from their computers they are able to track the so-called "Judas animals". These are raccoon dogs that have been caught, sterilised, tagged and released. Raccoon dogs stay with a partner for life and as soon as the Judas dogs are released, they go in search of a new partner. When one stops moving, the office dispatches one of the six full-time field workers to see if it has found a new partner. Two hours north-east of the office, Noren and Medstrom, the two men on the snowmobiles, have tracked one of the Judas animals to a small uninhabited island still covered in snow. Their tracking equipment now beeps at shorter intervals. "You hear, the signal is more frequent, it's a moving signal," says Noren. He's helped by his hunting dog, which can help sniff out the raccoon dog but is muzzled so it can't do any harm. There are paw prints in the snow. It's hard to tell whether it's from one raccoon dog or two. Noren tells everyone to stop. There's fur poking out from behind a tree. Are raccoon dogs aggressive animals? "I'm used to comparing it to a badger on sleeping pills," Noren says. Project leader Ahlen takes the lead and hooks the raccoon dog with a snare. It barely moves. It is alone and hasn't managed to find a partner for the team to shoot. So it is weighed and released. The system hasn't worked on this occasion but Ahlen is convinced of its effectiveness. "I stole it from the Spanish and Ecuadorian governments, their way of eradicating goats on Galapagos," he says. "[They] didn't succeed until they started with the Judas goats." Ahlen says it's a technique being used a lot now in conservation biology to eradicate invasive species. There are Judas rats in Mexico, Judas pigs in North America and Judas camels in Australia. At one time, there were between 100-130 raccoon dogs in Sweden, Ahlen says. But in the past 10 years they have killed about 2,000 in Sweden and on the bordering areas of Finland and they're now finding and killing fewer and fewer. The raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides) Sweden has a relatively small population of raccoon dogs - now probably fewer than 100, says Ahlen. He estimates there are up to 1,000 in Denmark and hundreds of thousands in Germany and Poland. In Finland the population is rising and in spring is approximately 250,000 - although about a million cubs are born each year, most die from starvation, hunting and road accidents. In Norway, there are "hopefully zero - we try to keep it that way". In France a few sightings and some road kills have been reported. The creatures could soon establish themselves in the wild both there and in the UK where escaped pets pose a potential problem, he says. It's illegal to keep them as pets in Sweden, Denmark and Norway but Ahlen says he has seen evidence that people in the UK do have them as pets. "The thing if you have them as pets is that they will escape and then you will endanger your native fauna if you release them in England," he says. "Both from Ireland and the UK, I've seen several cases where people have lost their pets and I'm quite sure that if you have not already, I think that you will have your first feral emerging population by reproduction of escaped pets." Ahlen says the project to eradicate raccoon dogs in Sweden hasn't faced any opposition. "Not even the animal rights groups are against what we're doing because we are protecting our grandchildren's nature, we are protecting the animals that will disappear if we have raccoon dogs in southern Sweden," he says. "Conservation biology is not always nice, it's not beautiful all the time." Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

वे प्यारे और प्यारे लगते हैं और कभी-कभी पालतू जानवरों के रूप में रखे जाते हैं-लेकिन रेकून कुत्ते एक खतरा हैं, जो पूरे यूरोप में वन्यजीवों के लिए खतरा हैं। स्वीडन उनके प्रभाव के बारे में इतना चिंतित है कि उसने जानवरों का शिकार करने और उन्हें मारने के लिए एक टीम को प्रशिक्षित किया है, अनजाने में जीवों की मदद से अपने साथियों को धोखा दिया है।


Luca Jelic guilty of Sheffield police officer sex assault

Summary: A man naked from the waist down waving a for sale sign sexually assaulted a police officer as she was trying to restrain him, a court heard.

Luca Jelic, 29, groped the officer after police were called to Scotland Street, Sheffield, on 27 April. The officer told Sheffield Crown Court Jelic attacked her as they were on the floor and she could not move his hand. Jelic, of Scotland Street, was found guilty of sexual assault and will be sentenced at a date yet to be fixed. He was also found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, possession of a Class A drug and three counts of criminal damage. The officer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, described how Jelic shouted sexual comments and he only released her when she managed to use CS spray on him. More stories from across Yorkshire She was also bitten during the incident. Two officers had been called to the street following reports of Jelic damaging vehicles, the jury heard.

एक अदालत ने सुना कि कमर से नीचे नग्न एक व्यक्ति ने बिक्री के लिए एक चिन्ह लहराते हुए एक पुलिस अधिकारी का यौन उत्पीड़न किया क्योंकि वह उसे रोकने की कोशिश कर रही थी।


Simon Armitage puts poetry into motion in Yorkshire

Summary: Knackered after walking 200-odd miles, his reddened face lacquered by 15 days in the sun, wind and rain, poet Simon Armitage is supping a satisfying pint of bitter in an 18th Century hunting lodge in the Yorkshire Dales.

By Ian YoungsArts reporter, BBC News Armitage is walking the 264-mile Pennine Way. He started with no money and is instead staging nightly poetry readings in halls, houses and pubs en route in return for donations, accommodation and food. He is singing for his supper - following the gruelling and sometimes risky route as a modern-day troubadour in an attempt to make his poetry pay. At the lodge - a grand, remote building that is now a study centre - more than 50 people gather in a classroom to watch him read from a stack of his books. "I'm sorry if you can't see at the back," he tells them after the day's 14-mile trek. "I normally stand up, but under the circumstances I'm sitting down." At the back are GCSE students on a geography field trip, who are likely to be studying Armitage in their English lessons - he has been on the curriculum for a decade. Some are deep in concentration when he reads; others look bored stiff. As well as being a homework staple, Armitage has recently been made a CBE for services to literature, perhaps a consolation for narrowly missing out on becoming poet laureate last year. In any case, he is one of Britain's best-loved and most accessible poets, and entertains the audience with witty, vivid and poignant verses and anecdotes. He then produces a sock - clean, he assures us - into which admirers are invited to stuff donations on their way out. Sitting in the centre's fusty sitting room after the gig, he says the journey was inspired in part by the ancient poets who toured the countryside in the days before the printing press. "There would have been a time when the important thing to do was to stand up in front of people," he explains. "And I still see that as part and parcel of my task, even though I disseminate my work through books. "I like the idea that I've got to be accountable for that work on occasion, and that I've got to stand up in front of strangers and make them work in that context." He continues: "I'm interested in the idea of whether poetry is a currency that will travel - the poems that I write, will they work in Bellingham and Kirk Yetholm and Byrness to audiences of, say, hikers or schoolkids on a geography field trip?" 'Intimate' readings With his journey ending in Edale, Derbyshire, on Monday, the answer seems to be yes. At a walkers' hostel one night, two or three people turned up to see him read, but the audience was otherwise made up of unsuspecting hikers. "Essentially it was the people who by coincidence were staying there that night. I was reading to them whether they liked it or not," he says. "That turned out to be one of the nicest nights. It was intimate, personal, and we sat there in the residents' lounge and it developed into a chat." Another night, he competed with a pool table for regulars' attention at a rural Northumberland pub. "They're interesting, those evenings, because you have to work quite hard," he reflects. "I always think the measure of success is whether you manage to bring the pub to a kind of quietness. You know, when you look up at the end, people are listening. "That's what happened that night in the pub and I felt quite confident, I think, from that moment on." The actual walk between readings, meanwhile, has been less forgiving. "It's not for the faint-hearted, of which I am one," he chuckles. "I got lost on Cross Fell, which was really horrible. It was foggy. It's undescribably bleak up there when you don't know what you're doing or where you are. "I had a GPS unit with me, which I didn't think I would use but I did have to get it out a few times and walk with a compass in my hand. "It was like being in that Antony Gormley cube which was full of mist. It was very disconcerting and I was very glad to get out of that." But a meal and bed have been waiting for him at every stop, courtesy of local residents and groups who have put him up along the way. "Occasionally people have met me on the track with flasks and butties," he says. The poet and author was "really delightful", according to Ann Pilling, who hosted a reading in her home in Wensleydale before giving him a room for the night. "I think in my drawing room we had about 50 people, with people sitting on the stairs and on the floor, and he was absolutely brilliant," says Mrs Pilling, herself an established writer most famous for the children's book Henry's Leg. "I borrowed some chairs from my church. Somebody brought them up in a tractor. He was very, very eloquent and articulate and interesting. His poetry is very accessible, but it's subtle and it has real punch, you know?" Book plan The people Armitage has met along the way, along with stories about the land and recollections from his childhood, will make their way into a book about the journey. "I think it might even be a little bit of a guide book - but not 'turn left at this sign,'" he says. Has he managed to successfully live off his wits and words? "I've had enough to get by and people have been so kind," he replies. "At the end I'm going to draw up a balance sheet and try to work out what's gone out and what's come in, and I'm aiming to break even."

200-विषम मील चलने के बाद परेशान, उनका लाल चेहरा धूप, हवा और बारिश में 15 दिनों तक लाल हो गया, कवि साइमन आर्मिटेज यॉर्कशायर डेल्स में 18 वीं शताब्दी के शिकार लॉज में एक संतोषजनक कड़वा पिंट खा रहे हैं।


Is heroin being smuggled on Pakistani planes into Heathrow?

Summary: Pakistan's national carrier says it is taking measures to ensure its planes are not used to carry drugs after heroin was found on two of its London-bound aircraft. Aviation authorities are also investigating how the drugs might be making their way on to the planes of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

By M Ilyas KhanBBC News, Islamabad What happened? On 15 May, UK's Border Force officials impounded a PIA flight from Islamabad on arrival at London Heathrow airport and searched it for several hours. The National Crime Agency later said that a quantity of heroin had been found hidden in different panels of the plane. There were suggestions that the British authorities had acted on a tip-off from Pakistan. No-one was charged. The pilot was allowed to return to Pakistan the next day, while the crew members were given their passports back a day later. The episode caused considerable embarrassment to PIA, which was already reeling from a plane crash in that killed dozens of people in December and a number of near-misses subsequently, sparking allegations of corruption and mismanagement. Then on 22 May, Pakistani officials at Islamabad airport seized more than 20kg (44lb) of heroin from another aircraft headed to Heathrow. An investigation is continuing. What is Pakistan doing about it? Investigations were launched to identify suspects within the PIA and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) with possible links to a drug trafficking ring that may have been using PIA to smuggle the drug abroad, Mashhood Tajwar, a PIA spokesman, told the BBC. The investigation is being conducted by a team of officials from airport security, customs and the anti-narcotics force (ANF). Mr Tajwar said pre-flight searches of aircrafts had been a part of standard operating procedures in the past, but surveillance had been stepped up since the May incident at Heathrow. On Friday, a high-level meeting presided by the prime minister's adviser on aviation, Mehtab Ahmad Khan, finalised new security measures and a Central Operational Committee headed by the CAA chief was constituted to oversee their implementation. On Monday, four aircraft expected to fly to foreign destinations were scheduled for checking, one of which - as mentioned above - was carrying drugs. How surprising is this? This is not the first time drugs have been found on PIA planes. Last December, 17kg (37lb) of heroin was seized by officials at Karachi airport from a plane being readied for a flight to Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia. The flight was delayed for over 11 hours as a result. Pre-flight checks are part of routine procedure and sniffer dogs are regularly used to clear aircraft for operations, PIA officials say. But the presence of heroin on some aircraft shows that officials responsible for such checks may either have been complacent or linked to drug mules among employees. While poppy crops across Pakistan have largely been eliminated, it is still grown in large parts of southern Afghanistan where insurgent groups wield influence and officials have little power. Analysts say poppy and heroin are among the main sources of income for these groups. And since some of them are said to have the tacit support of Pakistani authorities, they are said to be able to enter the country and smuggle heroin into Pakistan for onward shipment to the West. Such smuggling is further helped by large-scale movement of Afghan refugees across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, experts say. How damaging is this for PIA? Pakistan International Airlines has also courted controversy recently for other reasons. In February its management was accused of trying to cover up an air safety breach when it boarded seven extra passengers on a flight from Karachi to Medina, Saudi Arabia. They were allowed to stand in the aisle during the flight. In April, a passengers photographed the chief pilot of a London-bound flight taking a nap in the passenger compartment, leaving the controls in the hands of a first officer and a trainee pilot. The pilot denied he had breached safety rules, but the PIA management said they were investigating the incident. In early May, another pilot on a flight from Tokyo was accused of allowing an unauthorised foreign national into the cockpit. The passenger, a Chinese woman, remained there for two hours during the Tokyo-Beijing leg of the flight. The incident was filmed by a journalist who was traveling on the same flight. In 2013 a PIA pilot who admitted being over the legal alcohol limit to fly after being arrested in the cockpit was jailed for nine months in the UK.

पाकिस्तान के राष्ट्रीय वाहक का कहना है कि वह यह सुनिश्चित करने के लिए उपाय कर रहा है कि उसके लंदन जाने वाले दो विमानों में हेरोइन पाए जाने के बाद उसके विमानों का उपयोग ड्रग्स ले जाने के लिए नहीं किया जाए। विमानन अधिकारी यह भी जांच कर रहे हैं कि ड्रग्स पाकिस्तान इंटरनेशनल एयरलाइंस (पी. आई. ए.) के विमानों में कैसे जा रहा है।


Birmingham LGBT teaching row: How did it unfold?

Summary: Lessons incorporating same-sex relationships and transgender issues have resulted in protests outside primary schools, children being removed from classes and head teachers being threatened. BBC News looks back at the origins of the Birmingham LGBT teaching row.

How did it all begin? The No Outsiders project was the brainchild of Andrew Moffat, assistant head teacher at Parkfield Community School in Birmingham. Mr Moffat created it to teach children about the Equality Act 2010 and British values. He also wanted pupils to "be proud of who they are while recognising and celebrating difference and diversity". The project used books about a dog that doesn't feel like it fits in, two male penguins that raise a chick together and a boy who likes to dress up like a mermaid. "It's about teaching young children that we are different in reception and year one, that's as far as this work goes," he said. "We're just talking about being different and being friends." In 2014, the project was piloted at his school in the Alum Rock area of the city and was soon adopted by schools across the country. Three years later, Mr Moffat was made an MBE for services to equality and diversity in education. When did controversy begin to unfold? In January this year a parent whose child attends Parkfield school raised a petition, claiming the teaching contradicted the Islamic faith. "Children at this age don't even know if they are coming or going, let alone knowing what sexual orientation they will become," Mariam Ahmed said. While the writing in the Koran is open to interpretation, it includes passages which suggest homosexuality is against the will of Allah. Meetings took place between Mr Moffat and concerned parents, but some became "personal and aggressive", the school said in a statement. Within days, some parents began protesting outside the school at home time. Several pupils were also kept at home. How did the school respond to the growing anger? The No Outsiders lessons were paused to allow teachers to "re-engage with our parents", Mr Moffat said. Four other schools in the city - Leigh Primary School, Alston Primary School, Marlborough Junior and Infants School and Wyndcliff Primary School - halted their lessons. The protests, however, did not subside. They began to be held daily. Mr Moffat, who is gay, told the BBC he had been accused of promoting "personal beliefs" and had received "nasty emails" and threats, including one which warned he "wouldn't last long". Protests spread to other schools in Birmingham, including Anderton Park Primary School, in Balsall Heath. Its head teacher Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson told the National Association of Head Teachers' conference protesters had waved banners with slogans such as "Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" and "We have a say in what they learn". "The lead protesters have no children at my school," she disclosed. Who is heading the demonstrations? Amir Ahmed has co-ordinated protests outside seven Birmingham primary schools and used a loudspeaker to address parents and other campaigners at Parkfield. Although he does not have children at any of the affected schools, he said he was motivated by his religious beliefs and concerns about what children in his community were being taught. "We are a traditional community - we have traditional family values and morally we do not accept homosexuality as a valid sexual relationship to have," he told the BBC. "We do not believe in homosexuality but that does not make us homophobic." He told BBC Newsnight the lessons were "not about gay lesbian rights and equality". Mr Ahmed added: "This is purely about proselytizing homosexual way of life to children." When asked if children could be recruited to become gay, he said: "Well you can condition them to accept. This has been a normal way of life. And it makes the children more promiscuous as they grow older." The protests outside Anderton Park have been led by property developer Shakeel Afsar. He got involved after his sister's son brought home a book about a boy who wants to dress up as a girl. He said critics had "put parents into the bracket as if we are homophobic - that's far from the truth". "All we are concerned is we are having our children come home with material that contradicts our moral values that we are trying to instil in our children." Where have the protests spread? An investigation by BBC Newsnight found letters opposing the teaching of relationships and sex education (RSE) and LGBT equality had been sent to schools across the country. Schools in Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Croydon, Ealing, Manchester, Northampton and Nottingham had received the letters from conservative Muslims. In Kent, schools received letters from Christian parents and there have been reports that some children in Bristol have been removed from school by concerned parents. What do education chiefs say? Ofsted has backed the No Outsiders programme, with its chief inspector Amanda Spielman saying all children must learn about same-sex couples regardless of their religious background. She said it was crucial children were exposed to differences in society, and important children knew "there are families that have two mummies or two daddies". An Ofsted report also found there was no evidence the curriculum at Parkfield overly focused on LGBT issues or was not taught in an age-appropriate manner. Meanwhile, Education Secretary Damian Hinds said primary schools should be able to choose what they teach about same-sex relationships, if they "consider it age appropriate". In a letter to head teachers he suggested listening to and understanding the views of parents as a way schools can "increase confidence in the curriculum" to help children leave school "prepared for life in modern, diverse Britain". He said head teachers should consult parents but he reassured them parents had no right to veto what was taught. The Department for Education says lessons about relationships will become compulsory from September 2020. How do teachers feel? The prolonged action has taken its toll on several teaching staff. Hazel Pulley, chief executive officer of the trust which runs Parkfield school, said some staff had lost weight and could not sleep. An emotionally-charged meeting in April between 85 head teachers, Department for Education (DfE) officials and the council in Birmingham saw some people in tears. "We feel completely alone here and feel as if we're getting no overt support whatsoever from the government," one head, who wanted to remain anonymous, said. Rob Kelsall, the national secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, tweeted that the "government need to step up and sort this out". Like Mr Moffat, the head teacher of Anderton Park says she has been repeatedly threatened in emails and phone calls. "There's a whole variety of emotions: embarrassment for lots of our community and our parents who think this is just awful what's happening; frustration that it's going on so long; frustration that great British laws like 'you can protest peacefully' actually are causing us a problem," Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson said.

समलैंगिक संबंधों और ट्रांसजेंडर मुद्दों को शामिल करने वाले सबक के परिणामस्वरूप प्राथमिक विद्यालयों के बाहर विरोध प्रदर्शन हुए हैं, बच्चों को कक्षाओं से हटा दिया गया है और प्रधान शिक्षकों को धमकी दी गई है। बीबीसी समाचार बर्मिंघम एलजीबीटी शिक्षण पंक्ति की उत्पत्ति को देखता है।


Murder arrests over man's death in Crewe flat

Summary: Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murdering a man who was found with serious injuries at a flat.

Cheshire Constabulary said the man was found in Lord Street, Crewe, at about 21:40 GMT, on Friday. He was pronounced dead at the scene. One of the arrested men, 22, has been released on conditional bail, the other, 39, has been released under investigation. Police said it was believed to be an isolated incident. Formal identification of the man is yet to take place, the force added. Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone

एक फ्लैट में गंभीर रूप से घायल एक व्यक्ति की हत्या के संदेह में दो लोगों को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Cosby victim 'paralysed' by drugs during alleged assault

Summary: The criminal complaint against Bill Cosby details many unwanted advances from the comedian culminating in a n incident where he is alleged to have drugged and then sexually assaulted a woman while she was unconscious.

The document sets out how Mr Cosby and Andrea Constand met on Temple University's campus in Philadelphia and became friends - the victim says she considered Mr Cosby a mentor. According to the complaint, Mr Cosby tried to initiate sexual encounters with the victim on two occasions and she refused. The alleged assault occurred in early 2004 when the victim agreed to go to Mr Cosby's house to discuss her career and future. She told him she was drained and he said he wanted her to relax. Prosecutors allege that the victim protested when Mr Cosby offered her a glass of wine, saying she had not eaten that day. He urged her to drink wine anyway, the victim says in her testimony, so she drank a few sips along with the pills. Within 30 minutes, she says she experienced blurred vision and had trouble speaking. Mr Cosby then told her to lie down on the couch and relax. During that time she was lying on the couch, she says she was aware of Mr Cosby moving toward her, touching her breasts and genitals, and making her touch his genitals. She says she did not consent to any of the acts, that she could not speak, and that she felt "frozen" and "paralysed". She awoke in the middle of the night still inside Mr Cosby's home. The criminal complaint outlines how the victim - and her family - challenged Mr Cosby over the alleged assault and how he came to provide his own version of events. In his testimony to police, Mr Cosby admits that she came over that night and that he gave her pills to relax. He says they were Benadryl. He admits there was a sexual encounter, but describes the acts as consensual. And he tells police their relationship prior to the assault could be characterised as both social and romantic. Prosecutors argue that Mr Cosby knowingly drugged the victim, seeking to render her defenceless. They note in the complaint that he has never identified what the pills were. And they point out that in his testimony he admitted to using Quaaludes on other women. Explaining why they are bringing the charge, they conclude:

बिल कॉस्बी के खिलाफ आपराधिक शिकायत में कॉमेडियन से कई अवांछित प्रगति का विवरण दिया गया है जो एक घटना में समाप्त हो गया जहां उस पर आरोप लगाया गया है कि उसने एक महिला को नशीली दवा दी और फिर उसका यौन उत्पीड़न किया जब वह बेहोश थी।


Sugar Hut brawl: Police seeking man over Towie club hit and run

Summary: Police investigating an attempted murder after a brawl outside an Essex nightclub have appealed for information on the whereabouts of a man.

Three people were hit by a blue Audi after a fight outside Sugar Hut in Brentwood, a venue often featured in TV show The Only Way is Essex (Towie). Essex Police are seeking Martin Stokes, 24, in connection with the incident on 2 April 2017. Fifteen men are due to stand trial on April 23. Mr Stokes is described as 6ft (1.75m) tall, of stocky build with light brown hair. He is said to have links to Ireland, Hertfordshire and London as well as Essex. Two men and a woman were taken to hospital as a result of the incident and have since been discharged.

एसेक्स नाइट क्लब के बाहर एक झगड़े के बाद हत्या के प्रयास की जांच कर रही पुलिस ने एक व्यक्ति के ठिकाने के बारे में जानकारी के लिए अपील की है।


Medieval Norfolk church gutted by fire

Summary: A 12th Century church has been gutted by a fire.

The blaze was reported at 06:07 BST and when firefighters arrived at the scene in Wimbotsham, Norfolk, they discovered the roof was alight. Nine crews tackled the fire at St Mary the Virgin Church, which dates from 1175, and it was extinguished by 10:00. Part of the building was saved but the majority had been "100% damaged", a Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said. Station manager Terry Pinto said: "We have been able to save some of the building through early intervention but it is a very sad day. "Unfortunately the majority of the church is 100% damaged." Firefighters were able to save some of the historical documents kept in the church and the bell tower is "still standing for the moment". Mr Pinto said the fire service would remain on the scene for most of the day and would carry out a detailed investigation of the cause. Wimbotsham parish councillor Anne Smith, whose mother is buried at the church, said it was very important to the village. She said: "It is so sad, the church is really, really important to the village. Everybody has tried to pull together to make sure it stays here but now we have had this fire. It is just dreadful."

12वीं सदी का एक चर्च आग में जलकर खाक हो गया है।


Prison governor praises services merger on Isle of Man

Summary: The head of the Isle of Man's prison service has praised plans to merge it with the probation services, claiming it will reduce repeat offending.

The Manx Home Affairs department decided on the merger after months of consultation and planning. The move is being implemented to make the two services more efficient and to improve community safety. Alison Gomme, the governor of Jurby Prison, will head the combined service. Ms Gomme said: "In many respects we deal with the same client group and we may find that there's some duplication and replication. "As with other aspects of transforming government, what we're trying to do is eliminate some of that duplication - so that will be a primary benefit and help us deliver a seamless service for offenders."

आइल ऑफ मैन की जेल सेवा के प्रमुख ने इसे परिवीक्षा सेवाओं के साथ विलय करने की योजना की प्रशंसा करते हुए दावा किया है कि इससे बार-बार होने वाले अपराध में कमी आएगी।


Inside 'Islamic State': A Raqqa diary

Summary: In areas controlled by the group that calls itself Islamic State the penalty for speaking to the Western media is death by beheading, so it took courage and conviction for Mohammed to compile this diary of life in Raqqa, the capital of IS's self-proclaimed caliphate.

By Mike ThomsonBBC News Having seen friends and relatives butchered, his community's life shattered and the local economy ruined by these notorious extremists, Mohammed (not his real name) believes he's fighting back by telling the BBC what is happening to his beloved city. 1. The day IS first entered my beloved city Mohammed finds his father dead and mother badly injured following an air strike. After expressing his anger about beheadings in the streets, he is sentenced to 40 lashes. (Like many Arabic speakers, Mohammed refers to IS as "Daesh".) 2. Militants are roaming the streets looking for spies Mohammed is lashed, witnesses extortionate tax demands made by IS (which he calls Daesh) and sees a young woman stoned to death in a hole by the roadside. 3. I need to stop dreaming and focus on staying alive A neighbour's house is bombed, IS bans shops from selling televisions and Mohammed struggles to afford food for his family. 4. Sentenced to death for missing a Sharia class Prayer checks are carried out on the streets, a man is ordered to attend compulsory Sharia classes because his trousers are too long and Mohammed is advised to focus on the future and forget about the present. 5. I see a man who has been crucified and beheaded Heavily taxed foods gather dust in the shops. Mohammed tries to comfort the worried mother of a friend whose son has been arrested. When his decapitated body is found outside her home Mohammed decides it's time to leave Raqqa. At various points during the compilation of these diaries my producer on BBC Radio 4's Today programme and I were unable to contact Mohammed, and alarm bells began ringing. Sometimes five or six days would pass without any response to our questions about whether he was all right and able to carry on. On one occasion news reached us of the murder of two Raqqa activists who had escaped to Turkey. Having managed to flee across the border from Syria they probably assumed they were safe. But both were found beheaded. IS later claimed responsibility. Happily we managed to make contact with our diarist a couple of days later and heard he was still alive and well in Raqqa. But at least eight other anti-IS activists have been killed in this way, most of them inside Syria. Since IS took control of Raqqa, just over two years ago, the city has become ever more isolated from the outside world. Civilians are banned from leaving the city without permission, watching international TV, or talking by phone to anyone considered an enemy of IS. To help reduce the risks to our diarist we have withheld his name and done our best to remove anything thing from his account that might lead to him, or those he knows, from being identified. Some other details from his diaries have also been changed where necessary for similar reasons. But there is no way to completely protect anyone who chooses to speak out in the way that he and his fellow activists do. His courageous diaries give the world a rare and valuable glimpse of day-to-day life in the heart of IS's now infamous capital. Animation: Scott Coello Producer: John Neal Researcher and Translator: Nader Ibrahim, BBC Arabic Service social media producer Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox.

खुद को इस्लामिक स्टेट कहने वाले समूह द्वारा नियंत्रित क्षेत्रों में पश्चिमी मीडिया से बात करने का दंड सिर कलम करके मौत है, इसलिए मोहम्मद को आईएस के स्व-घोषित खलीफा की राजधानी रक्का में जीवन की इस डायरी को संकलित करने के लिए साहस और दृढ़ विश्वास की आवश्यकता थी।


Covid-19: A-level student on 'the end of normal learning'

Summary: With English schools closed to most pupils, young people are getting to grips with juggling assessment deadlines with remote learning. Here, 17-year-old Niamh Hodgkinson, from Colchester, tells of her experience of studying for A-levels amid the global pandemic.

To say it has been very weird time is something of an understatement. When the coronavirus first emerged as a threat in the UK, I had been studying psychology, early modern history and English at Colchester Sixth Form College, full time for about six months. A month later, in March, came the first lockdown and the end of normal learning. I was really enjoying college - making friends, going out in town during lunch breaks and basically just enjoying my teenage years. With that first lockdown, I initially though it would be for like a month and it would then all be under control. Four months on, and we all knew that was not the case at all. When we eventually went back to college, I thought I would just be able to get back into the gist of things. But it has not been like that. Not at all. Not in college and not at home. My mother is a nurse and she works nights. My father was furloughed. While it has been great to spend more time with him, it has been really tough on us all. And, given my mum's work, I've worried about her safety and for the wellbeing of my nan. When the restrictions were brought in, it has made meeting up with friends and doing the things you would usually do really hard. We've all had to get used to remote learning. So what has learning been like? The remote learning has changed hugely since the first lockdown. Initially, we would just get emails telling us what to do and what to read. There are now proper lessons in person with the teacher. You might also be interested in: My timetable runs like this: On Monday, I go into a college and have a full day of lessons. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I do remote learning. On Thursdays, I have classes in the morning and remote learning in the afternoon. And on Fridays, I have no lessons. In practice, what that looks like is I might have an English lesson during the morning and then I would have to rush to get a bus to get home to our village, have a little lunch, and then get myself set up for my next lesson, which will be done remotely. It has been really disorienting. As for what is happening with A-levels, well that has been really confusing. We first learned that Scotland and Wales had cancelled their exams, but in England they were still going ahead. We just didn't have a clue as to what we were going to do or how we would be able to do it and I didn't know if our safety was really being considered. I don't think I would be prepared to do my A-levels at the moment. After all, we've only really had seven months of full time education and yet we would have been expected to sit our exams without having the time or means to study the full syllabus. We would have been at a significant disadvantage. Then Gavin Williamson made his announcement that they were being scrapped in England and I was really happy - and relieved at first. But now I am wondering what is actually going to be happening and how are we going to be assessed. It has all been very confusing. We now know we will be getting out teachers' grade assessments, which in turn will be based on performance in class. I have had to be my own motivator. Usually, with school or college, you have a start time and a finish time and you have to get yourself ready and into school. I admit that at times my motivation hasn't been quite as good as it might be. It has been a challenge at times because you have to be tough with yourself and do things when they need to be done and not put them off until later. I've found psychology and history a lot harder to learn remotely than English. I'm one of those people who needs to be taught information for it to stay in my head. Whereas for English, I feel much more at home and very able to take on the additional reading. I feel the college has done an amazing job in really difficult circumstances - from what they've done with organising remote learning, to ensuring everybody wears masks on site to the alternating school populations to keep the numbers in college at any one time manageable. The students have really been taken into account by the college. But beyond the college, in the wider system, I don't think it has been handled very well. As for the future, I want to spend a year working as an au pair abroad. And after that, I want to join an apprenticeship to join the police force. I'm a person who tends to speak out when they feel they or other people are being treated unfairly. That's possibly why I've written this. 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 The Sixth Form College, Colchester

अधिकांश छात्रों के लिए अंग्रेजी स्कूल बंद होने के कारण, युवा लोगों को दूरस्थ शिक्षा के साथ मूल्यांकन की समय सीमा के साथ तालमेल बिठाना पड़ रहा है। यहाँ, कोलचेस्टर की 17 वर्षीय नियाम हॉजकिन्सन, वैश्विक महामारी के बीच ए-स्तर के लिए अध्ययन करने के अपने अनुभव के बारे में बताती है।


Battle of Towton anniversary marked at Rievaulx Abbey

Summary: The 550th anniversary of one of the biggest battles of the Wars of the Roses has been marked with a re-enactment in North Yorkshire.

Archery and military drills at Rievaulx Abbey were two of the activities which remembered the Battle of Towton. An estimated 28,000 soldiers died in the battle in 1461, where the House of York was victorious against the House of Lancaster. The two sides were engaged in a struggle for the English throne. The final victory in the civil war was claimed in 1485 by Henry Tudor, who defeated the last Yorkist king Richard III. He went on to marry Edward IV's daughter, Elizabeth of York, to unite the two houses. The House of Tudor subsequently ruled England and Wales for 117 years.

गुलाबों के युद्धों की सबसे बड़ी लड़ाइयों में से एक की 550वीं वर्षगांठ को उत्तरी यॉर्कशायर में फिर से लागू किया गया है।


One man's journey from alcoholism to abstinence

Summary: Martin was first treated for alcoholism in his early 20s.

After receiving treatment, he got his life back on track and went on to establish a life "beyond his wildest dreams" with his partner. "We had our own home in the countryside, nice gardens, a Range Rover jeep, she had her own car, we had a little pet dog, gravel driveway, a healthy bank account, the wedding almost sorted out, honeymoon paid for," he said. "Looking back on it, I had respect from people, genuine respect, and for me to be younger than most of the people I was doing business with. Life couldn't have got any better." After being teetotal for four years Martin, from Omagh in County Tyrone, said he took his "eye off the ball". "I said to myself I was smart enough to do it for four years completely sober, sure a few drinks won't do much harm now, and that was the biggest mistake I made," he said. "To be honest, at the time I was starting to make excuses, at the start my partner overlooked it but then it was the case there was arguments at home. "She was moving out of the house and called the wedding off." Pressures Around the same time, his business, selling cars and vans, began to suffer too. "I couldn't keep up with the bills, loans, overdrafts, everything was there and it was all going to the wayside. So there was a whole lot of stuff snowballed at the end of 2012 where it was just a case where I needed drink each day to kind of blank it out not to take the phone calls," he said. "I had no interest in going in to work, I was missing deals and also I was selling stuff under price because I hadn't got the interest, the drive wasn't there anymore." As time went on, his financial pressures mounted. "Inside the space of four months bills weren't being honoured. I'm not talking about a phone bill for £50, you were talking £500, £1,000, £8,000, another for £4,500 on credit cards and that, so as soon as the drink took over, it came in very rapid on my life at every point and the financial strain was the biggest one and then the relationship was the other strain," he said. Having reached rock bottom, Martin decided to seek help. He is currently receiving treatment at Ramona House in Omagh, which provides accommodation and treatment for men and women with alcohol-related issues. "Without sounding clichéd, this place has saved my life, I know I have by stopping drinking but just by me stopping drinking wasn't going to be enough," he said. "I couldn't have dealt with everything that was going on on my own, so I would genuinely say this place has really started to build my life back up again." Perceptions He said anyone from any walk of life could find themselves in his situation and urged them to seek help. "What I would say is that having a problem with drink it's not the stereotypical type that people perceive of a person drinking out of a brown bag under the bridge," he said. "I drank in some of the best bars and hotels in the south of Ireland and mixed with some of the best people around that area. "It has absolutely nothing to do with your background, what you work at, what you have in your bank account. If you have a problem with drink, I would just say swallow your pride, forget about what people think, pick up the phone and chat to someone because there's a much better life out there." Martin is now studying and hopes to train as a solicitor. The unit in which he lives is run by one of four organisations in Northern Ireland which are receiving £3.5m from the Big Lottery Fund to tackle alcohol abuse. The Big Lottery Fund said Northern Ireland had a higher proportion of alcohol-related deaths than the rest of the UK.

मार्टिन का पहली बार 20 के दशक की शुरुआत में शराब के लिए इलाज किया गया था।


FGM: The mother trying to protect her daughters

Summary: A case of female genital mutilation was discovered every three days, on average, by maternity staff in Wales last year, according to new figures. One victim - an asylum seeker mother-of-three living in Swansea - describes her struggle to protect her two daughters from the practice. Names have been withheld to protect her children.

By Lucy BallingerBBC News I was cut when I was two days old. I didn't know anything about it until years later my mum told me I had it done. For me, growing up in Benin City in Nigeria, it was normal. Everyone had it done. The eldest of five daughters I was aware of my younger sisters having it done when I was growing up. But I would just go off to play when the cutter came, I didn't really realise what was going on. It wasn't until the cutter came to see my youngest sister I realised what was happening. By then she was seven and I was 12, so I was a bit more aware. My mother told my sister in the weeks before: "Someone is coming to cut you, like I cut your sisters, my mum cut me and my great-grandmother cut her. It is nothing." Then I asked her about it. She said it was a man who cut me, I bled for an hour and nearly died. After that they didn't cut my sisters until they were a bit older as they were scared they would die. Even though I knew this, I couldn't tell my sister because if she didn't have it done or tried to run away people would have told her she was unclean, the community would have despised her and she would have been told she didn't belong. That day, the cutter had already been to see other girls. The cutter lay a small mat down in the back yard of our house and had pieces of broken bottles, razor blades to do the cutting. They were not clean, they had blood on them already. She had a big lady with her, she forced my sister onto the ground and sat on her chest to hold her still. My sister could hardly breathe and couldn't move her arms or legs. The cutter was behind the lady and got to work. My sister was fighting, she was screaming, but there was nothing she could do. I was screaming "stop this". Even my mum couldn't watch. By the end there was blood everywhere and my sister was unconscious. She had cried so much she didn't have anything left to give. They said to give her water and tried to clean her up. That was all she had to make her feel better - water. I just thought it was something that had to happen or you wouldn't be accepted by the community. I didn't know any different. My mum told you: "If you don't do it your husband in future will not like you, will not respect you, will not appreciate that you are a proper woman. You will be cast out by the community". They want the man to enjoy sex with you, it is all for the man, but why go through pain for just the man to enjoy sex with you when you don't enjoy it? It does not make sense to me. When I came to England in 2007 I started to realise it was not necessarily the natural thing I had been brought up to believe. When I had my first boyfriend it was painful both during sex and after sex, I couldn't understand it. But I had no-one to talk to about it. I just assumed it was normal. When I fell pregnant they told me I couldn't give birth naturally, so I had to have a Caesarean with both my girls and my little boy. FGM destroys your body. My daughter will soon turn seven - the age when my sister had it done - and I am so scared that someone will try to do it to her. Find out more For links to organisations offering support on FGM visit BBC Action Line World Health Organisation factsheet on FGM Crimestoppers are encouraging people to report FGM I'm so happy my girls weren't born in Nigeria - if they had been my mum would have quietly come to my house, even if I said no, when I was at the market she would have come and had them cut. I'm no longer in touch with family back in Nigeria, and thank god for that at the moment because of the risk of FGM. I'm just trying to bring my girls up, to teach them about my country and gradually teach them about FGM. But how do you explain FGM to a seven-year-old child? I'm afraid to take them back to Nigeria to visit, I would really love to, but how safe is it? Even though it is banned there now it is still a way of life, because their foremothers have been doing it for a long time they continue to do it. If I saw my mum, my sister or my grandmother there would be a very-massive risk for my girls. No way will I let someone do that to my girls, no way. They are happy, they are free, they are so blessed. But even though we are in Wales now I'm so worried about someone seeing them and thinking they must have it done, and taking an opportunity to do it. I know people might think "why would they cut my daughters if they don't know them?" but they are from a community that practises it. They might think this is a young girl, she needs to have it done. I can never leave them anywhere, I can never leave them with anyone. Survivors like me need to talk about being cut so that people know about it, so we are empowered to protect our children from it. If everyone keeps quiet, how are we going to stop it? I want my daughters to know I stood up to speak against it, that is what I think my mum should have done for me and I want to do it for them. Just as generations have been doing it, maybe my generation will be the one that stops it.

नए आंकड़ों के अनुसार, पिछले साल वेल्स में प्रसूति कर्मचारियों द्वारा औसतन हर तीन दिन में महिला जननांग विकृति का एक मामला पाया गया था। एक पीड़ित-स्वानसी में रहने वाली तीन बच्चों की माँ-अपनी दो बेटियों को इस प्रथा से बचाने के लिए अपने संघर्ष का वर्णन करती है। अपने बच्चों की रक्षा के लिए नामों को रोक दिया गया है।