'How George Floyd's death changed my Chinese students'

Summary: The killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests across the world have prompted many conversations that might never have happened before. Jasmine Cochran, 37, had one of them at the school where she teaches in China.

By Megha MohanGender and identity correspondent Jasmine's hometown, Picayune, got its name from a Spanish coin that is worth just a few cents. The small city enjoyed a moment of fame when the eye of Hurricane Katrina charged through it in August 2005. For a few days, photos of Picayune's wall of downed trees featured in a few national newspapers. But Katrina had caused far worse damage to neighbouring New Orleans, so the media's attention quickly moved on. "Picayune literally means 'something so unremarkable and of such little worth'," Jasmine laughs. "You couldn't make it up!" As an African American woman in the Deep South, Jasmine knew the value assigned to her. When she was a child and she played outside by the oak trees, men would speed their vehicles towards her, swerving just in time to miss her, laughter booming out of their truck windows. When she was at high school, working part-time at the checkout of her local Walmart, a customer yelled at her for no reason. "Did you see his ring?" Jasmine's boss asked. "No?" "It's a Klan ring. He is a member of the Ku Klux Klan," her boss said. "But don't worry, I have your back." The racism Jasmine grew up with on the border of Mississippi and New Orleans was raw, and unhidden. Soon after college, in her early 20s, Jasmine settled down, married and had two daughters. She and her husband talked of moving abroad, but it remained just a vague idea until one day Jasmine took the bull by the horns. She cornered her husband. "Look, man," she said, "are we ever going to do this?" "I would!" he countered, "it's you! You're the one who's so attached to your mama." They looked at each other and smiled. The decision was made. Once they started talking to friends about it, someone suggested China was looking for teachers. It would be a great opportunity for the girls. So in 2016, when the children were two and six, Jasmine and her husband moved to China, initially teaching at a high school in the north of the country and then in 2018 moving to Guangzhou in the south. The racism she has experienced in China, a country where 91% of the population are Han Chinese, stems from naivety and ignorance, she says. On the street people have rubbed her skin and felt her hair, and some have followed her. It has felt invasive and annoying but not cruel. In class, though, she's faced a different set of problems. Jasmine knew that it was very possible that she would be the first black person that her students had come into contact with. She would certainly be the first in a position of authority. She'd have to give the order of the syllabus a lot of thought. You may also be interested in: The Black Lives Matter protests prompted one of Patrick George's friends to ask him a question that no white person had asked him before. 'Talking to my white friend about race, for the first time' In Guangzhou, Jasmine has been teaching English literature and language to students aged 14 to 16. Keen to discuss black history with them, she nonetheless made a decision to steer clear of stories about slavery to begin with. "If your introduction to a group of people is slavery, then what happens is there's this development of a paradigm that these people are weak," she says. So she started with the story of Mansa Musa, the Malian Emperor who was said to be the richest man of the Middle Ages. The literature of the transatlantic slave trade was only one horrific part of the black story, she told them. Not the beginning and certainly not the end. Most of the students took in what Jasmine was saying and asked pertinent questions. But some resisted. They queried her stories about African wealth and civilisation. They also took issue with the autobiography of African American anti-slavery writer Frederick Douglass, who fought back against a farmer who whipped him, ran away to Massachusetts and became a writer and orator. It felt like fiction, one student said. Another asked if a white teacher could come along to corroborate what Jasmine was teaching them. There was also a student who wrote Jasmine a letter saying she would prefer a white teacher. She couldn't understand how black people could demand equality, she added, they needed to earn it. Jasmine was stung but she forced herself to think how best to handle this with sensitivity to her students and the new culture she was in. She asked some of her white colleagues to help. They did. They spoke to the pupils and challenged them to think about why it was that they couldn't accept the word of a black teacher. When the students returned to school after China's lockdown ended in April there was a tangible shift. Jasmine had been teaching the same students for nearly two years, and it was clear that something was playing on their minds. They quickly let her know there was something they wanted to talk about. "Have you heard of Ahmaud Arbery, miss?" Of course, Jasmine had been following the news of the African American jogger who had been pursued and shot by a white father and son. "Wait, how have you guys heard about Ahmaud Arbery?" "It's awful. It's terrible," they replied. "Yes," Jasmine replied, "it is terrible." Her students had read all about it online. They couldn't believe that a man could be killed just for going for a run. Jasmine arranged a conversation so that they could talk about it in class. Then on 25 May, news of the killing of another black man in America - this time in the form of a graphic eight-minute 46-second video - reached Jasmine's classroom. The same group approached her again. What happened to George Floyd was so disturbing that it had got them thinking about anti-black influences in their own upbringing, they said. Awkwardly, they began confessing that their families had talked about black people being of lower intellect, and dangerous. It's against Chinese culture to go against what your parents believe, but here they were witnessing a seismic global moment. "Am I going to believe what I've been told by my parents, who have had almost no interactions with black people?" they said, addressing Jasmine. "Or am I going to believe what I am seeing on a phone, and in front of me with you?" Jasmine decided to incorporate this question into a lesson, this time with a reading of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. "In Act Three a character says that they are living in the age of surfaces," Jasmine explains. "And so we talked about are we living in the age of surfaces, or are we living in a new age of enlightenment where people are realising what's happening to their fellow man?" So moved was one pupil with that message that he went home to write a poem about George Floyd. "The young generation is not going to stand for this," he wrote. "The revolution starts with us." Jasmine admits that watching the Black Lives Matter movement over the past few weeks has been taxing. She struggles to sleep. She thinks about how the world will look after this. She wonders how her pupils will process it all. And then she looks at her daughters, now six and 10, who switch between Mandarin and English, truly global citizens with the world at their feet. "They argue about who is going to be the first female African American president," Jasmine says with a smile. The daughters of the woman from Picayune, the city "of no value", who know their own. Additional reporting by Runako Celina You may also be interested in: James Smith has never wanted much to do with the police but he called them to check on his neighbour in the Texas city of Fort Worth, because it was late at night and her front door was wide open. Soon afterwards he heard a gunshot, and later saw the dead body of a 28-year-old woman, his neighbour's daughter, carried out on a stretcher. 'Why I will no longer call the police'

जॉर्ज फ्लॉयड की हत्या और दुनिया भर में ब्लैक लाइव्स मैटर विरोध प्रदर्शनों ने कई बातचीत को प्रेरित किया है जो शायद पहले कभी नहीं हुई थी। 37 वर्षीय जैस्मीन कोचरान ने उनमें से एक स्कूल में किया था जहाँ वह चीन में पढ़ाती है।


Jersey Post 'better value than UK', says boss Kevin Keen

Summary: The cost of posting a letter in Jersey is still better value than in the UK, according to the Chief Executive of Jersey Post.

Kevin Keen said despite an increase of five pence to send a letter to the UK, it was still cheaper than Royal Mail in England. Jersey Post is increasing prices and a local letter will now cost 45p and UK mail 55p. The charges also include an 11p rise for post to Europe, from 49p to 60p. Mr Keen said the service had no choice but to increase the price of a stamp. He said: "Royal Mail have put their prices up dramatically in the UK and we are feeling the pain of that increase."

जर्सी पोस्ट के मुख्य कार्यकारी के अनुसार, जर्सी में एक पत्र पोस्ट करने की लागत अभी भी यूके की तुलना में बेहतर है।


Cracking new ways to fight plastic waste

Summary: Plastic is one of the world's favourite packaging materials - it's cheap, practical and hard wearing. But its durability is part of the problem. Plastic pollution is now a huge issue and consumers are increasingly demanding greener alternatives. So how are companies responding to the pressure?

By Vivienne NunisBusiness reporter, BBC News From chocolate biscuits to toothpaste, razors to cigarettes, low-cost products wrapped in plastic line supermarket shelves around the world. The short lifespan and high turnover of these items mean they are a major culprit when it comes to single-use plastic - packaging used just once before being thrown away. For those trying to cut down on their use of plastic, a trip to the supermarket can be a depressing affair. But some manufacturers are finding solutions to the problem. For example, Tipa is an Israeli company that makes compostable plastic packaging. It features a multi-layer film made out of plant-based polymers which disintegrates in the heat and humidity of a home compost heap. British firm Snact, which sells fruit snacks made from food waste, uses Tipa's "bioplastic" packaging. "Just like traditional packaging, we have multiple layers in the film," explains Snact co-founder Michael Minch-Dixon. "One [layer] we print on and that gives all the brand information, and then the other layer is what acts as the barrier, so that keeps out the moisture and the air and makes sure the food stays fresh and safe to eat." He says the material is almost indistinguishable from conventional plastic ,but even the inks and glue are fully home-compostable. "So we can just put it in the compost bin, and like an orange peel it will decompose in about six months' time," he says. Mr Minch-Dixon says the cost of using the Tipa packaging for his products has fallen by 60% in two years, as more companies have adopted it. This means the snacks cost him just 1p more per item to produce than if he'd used traditional plastic. In October, Tipa secured $11m (£9m) in new investment. Among the investors was the American-Uruguayan fashion designer Gabriela Hearst, who announced that she will start using Tipa packaging for her luxury clothing line. Oiling the wheels While Tipa's compostable packaging provides one solution, other companies are developing new ways of recycling conventional plastic. British firm Recycling Technologies has built a machine that converts all flexible plastics into crude oil. The RT7000 shreds and dries waste items including toothpaste tubes, crisp packets and confectionary wrappers, then subjects the plastic to extreme heat in a chamber with no oxygen. That allows a chemical process called thermal cracking to occur, where the bonds in the plastic break down. Recycling Technologies chief executive Adrian Griffiths says the oil that's produced can be sold to petrochemical companies and turned back into plastic. "Anybody owning this machine can turn a waste product into something which attracts a high revenue," he says. Recycling Technologies has just raised $1.4m (£1m) in investment funding from InterChem, a company that supplies petrochemical firms with raw materials. Mr Griffiths aims to mass-produce the 20ft (6m)-tall machine - which can be transported in shipping containers - and sell it around the world. "We're building a facility to make 200 machines a year," he says. "Each machine will recycle 7,000 tonnes of plastic each year. That will add 1.4 million tonnes of recycling capacity into the system." To put that in context, Europe currently recycles just three million tonnes of plastic a year. Much more ends up in landfill, is incinerated, or finds its way into the oceans. "We envisage this machine sitting alongside rivers in Asia," says Mr Griffiths. "We'd be able to pay for people to get the plastic out of the river and bring it to the machine." Seeing clearly Rigid plastic items, like shampoo bottles, are already widely recycled. But the system is not as efficient as you might think. When coloured plastics are mixed together for recycling, the resulting plastic is very low-grade and is not suitable for many uses. For this reason Belgium-based Ecover, which makes household cleaning products, made the design choice to use only white or transparent plastic, so that its bottles can be recycled over and over again. "At the moment all those coloured bottles which manufacturers are using, they are recyclable but what usually happens is they're recycled into park benches or plant pots - a full stop in the recycling stream," says David Kennedy of Ecover. "We use clear plastic because it's the most recyclable plastic available we can find." Many product designers think they have to use coloured plastic to differentiate their product on the shelf, says Mr Kennedy. "But in reality, consumers are willing to accept they don't have to have coloured plastic," he says. "There are other ways you can highlight your brand - using shrinkable sleeves or using label language to make sure your brand stands out. "If everyone was using transparent plastic that would be a hell of a lot better for the recycling of plastic globally." Eleven of the world's biggest consumer goods companies, including Unilever, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Mars, L'Oréal and Walmart, have pledged to use only reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging by 2025. Between them, they are responsible for producing six million tonnes of plastic packaging a year. More Technology of Business Rob Opsomer at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, an organisation campaigning for sustainable industrial practices, believes it's critical that companies not only change the design of their packaging so that it's more sustainable, but that they work with local authorities to ensure their packaging does get recycled or composted and doesn't end up in landfill. "Companies have a role and responsibility to help resolve the issue because they're the ones that make and use these plastics to package their products," says Mr Opsomer. "But companies can't do it alone. We need government action as well."

प्लास्टिक दुनिया की पसंदीदा पैकेजिंग सामग्रियों में से एक है-यह सस्ती, व्यावहारिक और कठोर है। लेकिन इसकी स्थायित्व समस्या का हिस्सा है। प्लास्टिक प्रदूषण अब एक बड़ा मुद्दा है और उपभोक्ता तेजी से हरित विकल्पों की मांग कर रहे हैं। तो कंपनियां दबाव का जवाब कैसे दे रही हैं?


Is the US love affair with McDonald's waning?

Summary: Americans are shunning McDonald's. The fast-food giant is one of the most iconic brands in the US - but with sales there down for six quarters in a row, the burger chain's new British chief executive needs to lure Americans back.

By Regan MorrisBBC News, Los Angeles The US is the largest and most important market for McDonald's. And the Golden Arches are ingrained in the American palate and psyche. But can nostalgia save the company as Americans increasingly choose healthier, more tailored fast food? Do Americans even want healthier choices from McDonald's? "No way," says Jacques Quincy, who grew up eating McDonald's every Friday and Saturday to give his mother a break from cooking when they were kids. "I get the two McChickens, I get a large apple pie, a large French fries, a shake, a giant shake, and then after that I might get two, three cookies, depending on how I feel." McDonald's would probably feel good about Mr Quincy's choices. The company has been steering customers towards chicken offerings amid a rise in beef prices. Mr Quincy spoke to the BBC while walking past a McDonald's and a Chipotle, where sales were up 10% in the first quarter of this year. He says McDonald's does let him have it his way: he likes his McChickens well done on sesame bread with red onions. Slim at the age of 24, he doesn't worry about all the calories or sodium he's consuming. But he likes the fact that McDonald's posts the calorie content of all the items on its menu, so he knows what he's getting. He says he isn't shunning McDonald's at all. But he spoke while carrying a Starbucks coffee. Jennifer, on the other hand, is shunning McDonalds - at least a little bit. And she dislikes seeing the calories listed by the menu items: "I don't want to know!" the single mother said while having an early dinner with her 10-year-old son. "We used to come almost five days a week," she said. "Now we come two to three times a week." But it wasn't health concerns or the listed calories keeping them away. "It's the cost. They keep raising prices. I used to be able to get a double for a dollar. But they keep going up. $1.19, $1.49. I can get a better deal at Jack-In-The-Box," she said, referring to another McDonald's competitor. "And the French fries are the best," she said. "Nobody makes better fries." Her son agreed. Jennifer works three part-time jobs and knows the prices of many items on the menu without looking: for her, every penny counts. Fast-food restaurants have been raising prices because of the drought and rising commodity and labour costs. Jennifer says people on a budget can ignore the mandatory calorie counts. (It's the law to post calories for big fast-food chains. A double cheeseburger has 430 calories. Large French fries have 510 calories). For Maureen Lynn, McDonald's is now an annual treat. Her large Irish-Catholic family went to McDonald's every Sunday after church. With five kids and usually a few of the neighbours' children hanging around, they were not allowed to complicate their order with specialty items. It was "hamburger or cheeseburger" and "orange or coke" to drink. Everyone got small fries. "On your birthday, you got a Big Mac," says Ms Lynn, who, at 42, keeps the tradition alive by taking her three kids for an annual birthday Big Mac in Cleveland, Ohio. "Sometimes we forget or don't have time, but we try to get everyone a Big Mac on their birthday." Although McDonald's offers various specialty products around the world to tailor to the local market - spicy sauce in South East Asia, for example - the allure of McDonald's is partly in its consistency. The Big Mac or Quarter Pounder with cheese or Chicken McNuggets taste the same in Portland or Pittsburgh or Poland. And while parents seem to appreciate the apple slices or yogurt selection in a Happy Meal and juice or milk instead of fizzy drinks, people say they don't come to McDonald's for salad or fancy wraps. McDonald's removed several sandwiches recently to simplify the menu and get rid of unpopular items. "I know it's unhealthy, but I want the chicken nuggets - that's why I came here," says China Magno, who was chatting with a friend over small orders of Chicken McNuggets and free cups of water. For some consumers, the bad press McDonald's has received in recent years has forever altered their opinion of the burger chain. "I watched a documentary not too long ago called Super Size Me and it just completely repulsed me and I have no desire to eat there ever again," said Michelle Angelis. "It's been three years since I've had anything from there." Does she miss it? "I would eat their cheeseburgers. I like those. And then I found out how bad they were for you and so now I go to Chipotle."

अमेरिकी मैकडॉनल्ड्स को छोड़ रहे हैं। फास्ट फूड की दिग्गज कंपनी अमेरिका में सबसे प्रतिष्ठित ब्रांडों में से एक है-लेकिन लगातार छह तिमाहियों तक बिक्री में गिरावट के साथ, बर्गर श्रृंखला के नए ब्रिटिश मुख्य कार्यकारी को अमेरिकियों को वापस लुभाने की जरूरत है।


Ceremony marks rebuilding of Ballater Station after fire

Summary: A ceremony has been held to mark the start of work to rebuild a historic railway station in Royal Deeside which was destroyed by fire.

The Old Royal Station in Ballater was ravaged by the blaze in May 2015. The old station had been the final stopping point for members of the Royal Family heading to Balmoral. A visitor information centre and a restaurant will feature in the new building along with a library and an enhanced exhibition space. The work is expected to be completed in December.

रॉयल डीसाइड में एक ऐतिहासिक रेलवे स्टेशन के पुनर्निर्माण के काम की शुरुआत को चिह्नित करने के लिए एक समारोह आयोजित किया गया है जो आग से नष्ट हो गया था।


The terrible speed with which the Grenfell fire spread

Summary: Seventy-two people died as a result of a huge fire that engulfed Grenfell Tower - a 24-storey West London residential tower block. This week expert witnesses at an inquiry into the blaze detailed how the fire ripped through the building, minute by minute, one year ago.

Fire starts on fourth floor, spreads in minutes 00:54 BST The first call was made to emergency services to report a fire on floor four of Grenfell Tower just before 01:00 on 14 June 2017. The man who lived in flat 16, Behailu Kebede, told the operator: "Quick, quick, quick. It's burning." He described how he was woken by a smoke alarm and had seen smoke in his kitchen. Four fire engines were sent to the scene, the first arriving at 00:59. The fire had begun "in or around" a tall Hotpoint fridge-freezer, according to a provisional report by Dr Niamh Nic Daéid, director of the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science at Dundee University. A few minutes later, the fire could be seen in the flat from outside the building. It had spread from the kitchen window to the exterior and witnesses began seeing burning material falling to the ground. Around this time, Tiago Alves, then aged 20, ran down the stairs from the 13th floor with his younger sister Ines. "My dad stayed upstairs and he was knocking on the neighbours' doors," he told the Guardian in the aftermath of the fire. CCTV showed their father, Miguel, leaving the building a few minutes later along with other residents - possibly fellow occupants of the 13th floor. The first fire crew entered the flat, reaching the kitchen by 01:14. Firefighter Daniel Brown described seeing an "isolated curtain of flame from about 2-3ft in the air to the ceiling". Thermal images captured by the fire crew appeared to show "hot fire gases and flames had spread across the window space". Barefoot and clutching his phone, the flat's tenant, Mr Kebede, left the building and watched in horror as the fire spread up the tower. His mobile phone images show an orange glow of flames around the kitchen window, and later a fire burning more intensely in the area of the window filler panel and extractor fan. The blaze was moving up the building's east side by this time and the fire service made its first request for a high-reach aerial appliance. One minute later, the fire had spread to the 5th floor above. Fire crews began using external hoses to try to extinguish the flames. Further burning debris could be seen dropping from the building. These early stages of the fire saw "rapid vertical fire" and "horizontal fire" spread up and across the building, according to fire safety engineer Dr Barbara Lane. Within a further six minutes, the fire had reached the 11th floor. One minute later, the fire had reached floor 13. A resident of flat 195 on the 22nd floor called emergency services to describe smelling smoke, but was advised to "stay inside and keep your door and windows shut". CCTV showed a number of people leaving from the 7th floor. A few minutes later, someone on the 14th floor said people could no longer exit via the lobby because it was filled with smoke. Mobile phone videos show the blaze reaching the top floor on the east side of Grenfell Tower by about 01:26, less than 30 minutes after firefighters had arrived. In approximately 12 minutes, it had spread up 19 storeys on the outside of the building. A resident of flat 95 on the 12th floor called 999 to report that the fire had reached her neighbour's flat. The flames were "coming through the floor", she said. The fire service was still telling residents to "stay put" at this point - advice that lasted nearly two hours. Such "stay put" safety advice is often given to people living in purpose-built blocks of flats. It is designed to stop residents unaffected by fire from unnecessarily evacuating the building and blocking the stairways. However, it assumes a building's design will contain a fire in a single flat for as long as it takes fire crews to bring it under control. Dr Barbara Lane's report found that this policy had "effectively failed" barely half an hour after the fire started, given the unique circumstances at the tower block. There was an "early need for total evacuation of Grenfell Tower", she said. Major incident declared The number of 999 calls to emergency services increased as the fire reached the top of the building. In desperation, some residents had headed upwards and were seeking refuge in flats of friends and neighbours on the upper floors. Smoke was coming from "everywhere", one said. London Fire Brigade increased their request for vehicles with pumps to 20 at this point. Two minutes later, crews asked for 25 pumps. People on the 3rd, 11th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd went on to make emergency calls to describe flames or smoke reaching their flats. The fire continued to advance on two fronts - along the eastern side of the building and to the north. A total of 144 people had evacuated the building by this point, but 149 remained inside. The fire service received a call from flat 205 on the 23rd floor, where flames "just blew" into the kitchen. The occupants of flat 95 on the 12th floor also described a fire in the neighbouring flat, on the landing and near the lift, as well as below and around the flat's windows. They were advised to leave. People on the 10th, 12th, 14th and 22nd floors also called 999 around this time and described being trapped in smoke-filled flats. Some said they were going to try and escape. As well as 26 flats ablaze externally, at least four flats were on fire inside by this time, according to the report by Dr Barbara Lane. The number of people escaping the building slowed, however. There was a period, between about 01:50 and 02:06 when no-one left, according to the report by Professor José L. Torero. This was the point when communal lobbies and stairwells in the middle and top of the building became, or appeared to have become, impassable. "Thick smoke with low to zero visibility is described as filling the stair," said Dr Barbara Lane. London Fire Brigade declared a "major incident" just after 02:00. They had requested 40 pumps by this point. People started leaving the building again, but at a reduced rate. The reason for this is not clear, Prof Jose Torero said in his report, however, it corresponded with the point when the fire reached the centre of the building's east side and the north side, creating "untenable" conditions. The fire spread across the north side of the building a few minutes later and fires were raging inside a number of flats. Stay-put advice changed The number of interior fires increased as the fire spread across the exterior of the building and by 02:25, the fire had spread to the south side of the building. Five minutes after that, at 02:30, the whole of the east of the building was on fire, Met Police records show. The incident commander changed the policy recommending residents stay in the building at this point and people were advised to leave. By this time, the east, north and south sides of the building were in flames. Before the stay-put advice was changed, 187 occupants had left the building - independently or with firefighter assistance. There were still 107 people in the building, of which 36 eventually got out. People inside the building described lobbies as "incredibly hot" or "boiling hot" as well as thick with smoke at this time, Dr Barbara Lane said. "This smoke effectively created a barrier to residents on any level and so impacted on their ability and/or willingness to move from their flats down the stair to a place of safety," she added. North of building fully ablaze Some 73 flats were ablaze externally by 03:21 and two minutes later, the northern side of the building was fully alight. By 03:39, London Fire Brigade had stopped sending crews above the 4th floor. The fire continued to spread towards the south-west corner of the building, reaching it by 03:56. No-one escaped from above the 12th floor after 03:55. Just before 04:00, 81 people were left in the building. Whole building on fire The fire spread laterally around the building to the north and south, and just after 04:00 it had reached all sides. The flames had spread in different directions and converged on level 23 near the south-west corner of the building, fully enveloping the building's perimeter. Fire could be seen spreading down the building on the west side and it was fully engulfed just before 05:00. Internal fires continued to rage. Some 70 people had not evacuated the building at this stage. The incident commander concluded that there was "no longer any saveable life in the building" just before 20:00. Internal fires could still be seen on the north and west sides of the building at 21:50. The blaze did not burn itself out until 01:14 BST on Thursday 15 June - 24 hours later - having destroyed 151 homes, both in the tower and surrounding areas. A total of 72 people lost their lives as a result of the fire. They include six members of the Choucair Family and five members of the Hashim Family, who lived on the 22nd floor. Five members of the El-Wahabi family died on the 21st floor. Six-month old baby Leena Belkadi died in her mother's arms as she tried to escape and baby Logan Gomes was stillborn in hospital the morning after the fire. Maria Del Pilar Burton, who suffered from serious long-term health issues, died in hospital in January 2018. A total of 65 people were rescued from the building by firefighters. In a statement to the inquiry, London Fire Brigade said Grenfell Tower was the largest single rescue operation in England since World War II. It was "by far the most challenging incident" the service had experienced "in living memory", it said. The Fire Brigades Union has asked the inquiry to consider whether firefighters were put in an "impossible situation" when battling the blaze. Note: All timings as reported to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. Written and produced by Lucy Rodgers. Designed by Gerry Fletcher, Zoe Bartholomew, Mark Bryson and Sumi Senthinathan.

24 मंजिला वेस्ट लंदन आवासीय टावर ब्लॉक-ग्रेनफेल टावर में लगी भीषण आग के परिणामस्वरूप 72 लोगों की मौत हो गई। इस सप्ताह आग की जांच में विशेषज्ञ गवाहों ने विस्तार से बताया कि कैसे एक साल पहले मिनट दर मिनट इमारत में आग लग गई थी।


Alderney States election 2012: Polls close

Summary: Polls have closed after voting to decide who will take up the five vacant positions in the States of Alderney.

Twelve candidates are standing for the positions in the island's government, which is made up of 10 States members and a president. Out of a population of 2,111, a total of 1,109 islanders have signed up to the electoral roll. Half of the States member positions are elected every two years as each States member serves for four years.

एल्डर्नी राज्यों में पांच रिक्त पदों को कौन संभालेगा, यह तय करने के लिए मतदान के बाद मतदान बंद हो गया है।


Winston Roddick launches child sex crime team for north Wales

Summary: A specialist team is being set up in north Wales to combat sex crimes against children, the police and crime commissioner's (PCC) office has said.

North Wales PCC Winston Roddick said he was responding to the "prevalence and escalation" of that type of crime. A summit on child sexual exploitation will be held in St Asaph on 14 May. He added: "I have acted after we saw from the incidents at Rotherham and other parts of the country a staggering amount of child sexual abuse." Details of the proposal are outlined in the PCC's police and crime plan.

पुलिस और अपराध आयुक्त (पीसीसी) कार्यालय ने कहा है कि बच्चों के खिलाफ यौन अपराधों से निपटने के लिए उत्तरी वेल्स में एक विशेषज्ञ दल का गठन किया जा रहा है।


Total charged over gas leak at North Sea platform Elgin

Summary: Oil company Total has been charged after an investigation into a gas leak at a North Sea platform in 2012, BBC Scotland has learned.

Total's Elgin platform, 150 miles east of Aberdeen, was evacuated when the gas began leaking in March 2012. The leak was stopped by pumping heavy mud into the well, followed by the use of cement plugs. The case is due to call at Aberdeen Sheriff Court next week under offshore installations regulations.

बीबीसी स्कॉटलैंड को पता चला है कि 2012 में नॉर्थ सी प्लेटफॉर्म पर गैस रिसाव की जांच के बाद तेल कंपनी टोटल पर आरोप लगाया गया है।


British Army pair arrested in Berkshire bailed over ammunition probe

Summary: Two serving members of the British Army arrested on suspicion of possessing ammunition and conspiracy to steal have been released on bail.

The pair were arrested at separate homes in Berkshire by the Flying Squad supported by the Royal Military Police and Ministry of Defence Police. The men, who serve with the Coldstream Guards, were held on Thursday. The Met Police said the men, aged in their 30s and 40s, have been released on bail until a date in late February. The BBC understands the arrests follow an investigation into the disappearance of an unspecified quantity of 9mm ammunition, which is used for British Army issued pistols. Related Internet Links Metropolitan Police

गोला-बारूद रखने और चोरी की साजिश रचने के संदेह में गिरफ्तार ब्रिटिश सेना के दो सेवारत सदस्यों को जमानत पर रिहा कर दिया गया है।


Stamps mark Prince William and Charles Dickens' birthdays

Summary: Bailiwick of Guernsey stamps have been released to mark the 30th birthday of Prince William and 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens.

The six stamps remembering the acclaimed author depict some of George Cruikshank's original illustrations for Oliver Twist. Dawn Gallienne, head of philatelic at Guernsey Post, said it was an honour to be allowed to use the images. The set featuring the Duke of Cambridge focuses on his interests. The Charles Dickens images appear on Alderney stamps and include well-known characters such as the Artful Dodger, Fagin and Charley Bates.

प्रिंस विलियम के 30वें जन्मदिन और चार्ल्स डिकेंस की 200वीं जयंती के अवसर पर बेलिविक ऑफ ग्वेर्नसे टिकट जारी किए गए हैं।


Danny Dyer's Brexit rant named TV moment of the year

Summary: Danny Dyer's diatribe about Brexit on Good Evening Britain has been named TV moment of the year at the Edinburgh TV Festival Awards.

The EastEnders actor famously ranted about former Prime Minister David Cameron on Good Morning Britain's live late-night spin-off show in June. He accused him of having his "trotters up" in France while the country was left with the "mad riddle" of Brexit. Meanwhile, Channel 5 was named channel of the year. It is the home of shows like Cruising with Jane McDonald, Celebrity Big Brother and Rich House, Poor House. The other winners included: Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, or on Instagram at bbcnewsents. If you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.

गुड इवनिंग ब्रिटेन पर ब्रेक्सिट के बारे में डैनी डायर की आलोचना को एडिनबर्ग टीवी फेस्टिवल अवार्ड्स में वर्ष का टीवी क्षण नामित किया गया है।


How Shifnal raised thousands to save two of their own

Summary: Tumours in the brain and skull are the ninth most common type of cancer. The chances of two people who live within minutes of each other being diagnosed with the disease are slim - even more unlikely is that their small town would raise money for both to pay for life-saving treatment.

By Sophie MaddenBBC News Christel Callow had been having headaches for some time when she booked what she assumed would be a routine eye test in July. Within days, she had surgery to remove a brain tumour the size of a tennis ball called an anaplastic astrocytoma. "It was a shock, when you realise it is cancer, you obviously think the worst," said the 26-year-old, who lives in Shifnal in Shropshire. Although she had the majority of the mass removed, she was told she would need radiotherapy to treat what remained - a procedure that risked damaging parts of her brain affecting speech and movement. Her family began to research alternatives and discovered proton beam therapy, which could target the cancer with less impact on the surrounding parts of her brain. But they were told it was not be available to Christel on the NHS because she was over the age of 24. Instead, they were left looking at a £60,000 bill to have the treatment done privately. Meanwhile, Nick Haves was looking at the same price tag. The 46-year-old had been diagnosed with a meningioma and had been told he also he did not qualify for proton beam treatment on the NHS. Nick, who lives in the village of Sherrifhales - three miles outside Shifnal - appealed against the decision but said he was also told "point blank" it was not available to him because of his age. His only option was to start fundraising, which he was "adamant" he didn't want. "I had said I'll just take the conventional therapy," said the father-of-two, who had radiotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia 23 years ago. "Just because of that feeling of going cap in hand to people and because I am quite a private person." For Christel, fundraising was her only hope and they needed to raise the cash within a month. "My dad said 'don't get your hopes up' because it was a lot of money to find," she said. What is proton beam therapy? Christel's friends launched a fundraising page which within hours amassed £10,000 in donations. They organised a family fun day at Shifnal's War Memorial Club, a charity football match, raffles, and collection tins appeared in newsagents and pubs. "It was like being instantly famous overnight," said Christel. "Everybody was saying hello and wishing us well, the shops in Shifnal were asking us for donation pots. "It wasn't put on anybody, they chose to do it which was great - especially at that time because I couldn't think about what I was going to do tomorrow, let alone organise all of this." Amid charity football matches, family fun days and donation boxes, the fundraising team hit the target in about three weeks. "Everybody came together, everyone wanted to help, to do their bit. I was overwhelmed by it," said Christel's best friend Christie Farnell, who helped launch the drive. "I didn't think the target would be reached. I thought if we get half, then we can keep on going, perhaps she can get a loan, and I was preparing her for that. It seemed so out of reach at the start." By coincidence, Nick and his family attended one of their events. "We got speaking to Christel's family, they said what they were doing and were almost insistent that we try as well," he said. "At that point my wife, who has been fantastic through this whole process, picked up the mantle." Christel's friends diverted their attention to supporting Nick and again, fundraising events were organised across Shifnal, which has a population of 7,900. He was also supported by the nearby community in Newport, with fundraisers by the town's rugby club and his children's schools. Incredibly, he too managed to reach his target in a matter of weeks. He said the way people had come together to help him "restores your faith in humanity". "I was absolutely overwhelmed by it all," he said. "It is people you don't know, it is friends you haven't met or seen for 10 or 20 years sometimes. "At a time when everything is doom and gloom, it is a little bit of light that can be seen in a funny situation." Both Christel and Nick had treatment at the Rutherford Cancer Centre in South Wales, a private facility which sees patients with a range of cancers beyond those funded by the NHS if they are privately insured or self-funded. Since its launch in Spring 2018, its three sites have treated 63 patients with proton beam therapy. Christel started her six-week treatment at the end of September, returning home in early November. She has now started 12 months of chemotherapy, with an MRI scan scheduled for February to give an indication of how it has worked so far. "Shifnal is a small place and it is just dead lovely to know everybody is genuine and kind," she said. "I do think, if I didn't live here, what could have happened, what would have happened? I am lucky with where I live." Nick finished his treatment on 11 December. He also expects to have an MRI scan around February to assess how the therapy has affected his tumour. He said it won't be a cure, as it is inoperable, but will hopefully stop it from growing and causing further damage. "I'm doing really well. It is nice [to be] coming home when I can have some quality time with the kids. [The help] has been absolutely amazing - as I said, it restores your faith in humanity, all you hear is bad news, everything is bad. "It shows how amazing this place is, but I have always known that, being Shifnal born and bred." Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone.

मस्तिष्क और खोपड़ी में ट्यूमर नौवां सबसे आम प्रकार का कैंसर है। दो लोगों के एक-दूसरे के मिनटों के भीतर रहने की संभावना कम है-और भी अधिक संभावना यह है कि उनका छोटा शहर जीवन रक्षक उपचार के लिए भुगतान करने के लिए दोनों के लिए धन जुटाएगा।


Drones to be banned from flying over Isle of Man Prison

Summary: Flying drones over Isle of Man Prison will be banned within weeks, the government has said.

The restrictions, which will apply to unmanned aircraft weighing under 20kg, will begin on 1 January. A ban on flying the aircraft in the vicinity of Isle of Man Airport will also be introduced. The island's deputy director of civil aviation Colin Gill said the ban near the airport was to "protect the safety of aviation and the general public". The formal regulations will replace guidance already in place. Drones weighing more then 20kg are currently regulated in the same way as normal aircraft.

सरकार ने कहा है कि आइल ऑफ मैन जेल के ऊपर ड्रोन उड़ाने पर हफ्तों के भीतर प्रतिबंध लगा दिया जाएगा।


Qatari poet appeals over life prison sentence

Summary: A Qatari poet has been sentenced to life in prison for inciting the overthrow of the government of Qatar and insulting the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and his son, the crown prince, reports say.

By Hugh MilesQatar The verdict is likely to prove an embarrassment for Qatar which has worked hard to cultivate a progressive, modern image, and is currently playing host to a major international climate change conference. The charges relate to a poem that 37-year-old Mohammed al-Ajami, a father of four, recited in 2010 before a small, private audience in his flat in Egypt. One audience member subsequently posted the poem online. In the Arab world it is customary for poets to praise those in power. Mohammed al-Ajami's poetry is generally liberal and satirical, supporting the Arab Spring, while poking fun at religion and Arab rulers generally. But he was arrested in Doha on 16 November last year and, some two weeks later, he was transferred to the central prison. He has remained there since, spending five months in solitary confinement with no access to books, television or writing material. It was only in September that his friends and family say they found out what had happened to him and where he was. Speaking outside the courtroom on Thursday, Mohammed al-Ajami's lawyer, Najeeb al-Nauimi, said the case had been marred by a number of procedural irregularities and had been held largely in secret. He also alleged that critical evidence had been tampered with. All these charges have been denied by Qatar's Attorney-General, Ali bin Fetais al-Marri. Limiting freedoms A key part of the evidence against the poet was near-identical testimony submitted by three government poetry experts at the ministries of culture and education, asserting that the poem al-Ajami had written was indeed insulting to the emir and his son. Al-Ajami was not in court when his sentence was handed down and, when he was visited a few hours later, he had still not been informed of the verdict against him. Under Qatari law, he now has 30 days to appeal against the sentence. Mohammed al-Ajami has never disputed that he is the author of the poem, but he says it was not meant to be offensive or seditious. "I am a poet. I have done nothing wrong. Now I haven't seen my wife and children for one year," he said. "We have a good country and a good man. The emir is not Saddam or Gaddafi. He doesn't have a black heart but he is surrounded by those who want to please him." Asked if he had a message for the emir, al-Ajami said: "This is not supposed to happen to me or any other person in Qatar. I deserve your help more than the people outside my country." The case poses a dilemma for the Qatari government and exposes the limits to freedom of expression in a country that has been one of the most ardent supporters of the Arab Spring and is planning its first legislative elections in 2013. The case also exposes the Achilles heel of Qatar's pan-Arab satellite TV channel, Al-Jazeera, which assiduously reports human rights violations in other countries around the world but rarely in Qatar itself.

कतर के एक कवि को कतर की सरकार को उखाड़ फेंकने के लिए उकसाने और अमीर शेख हमद बिन खलीफा अल-थानी और उनके बेटे, क्राउन प्रिंस का अपमान करने के लिए आजीवन कारावास की सजा सुनाई गई है।


Xbox revealed: Experts on Microsoft's next games console

Summary: Microsoft is the last of the big three console makers to reveal details of its next-generation games console, but the wait has arguably only added to anticipation for the Xbox expose.

By Leo KelionTechnology reporter The US firm has kept its cards close to its chest ahead of the big unveil, refusing to disclose the machine's name or address rampant rumours: Will it really need an always-on internet connection? Can it possibly block second-hand games? Will it be offered at a rock bottom price if users commit to bolt-on subscription services? Of course, Microsoft is unlikely to give away all its hardware secrets. Sony notably refused to even show off the shape of the PlayStation 4 at its event in February. Both firms want to keep something back for the E3 games convention next month. There's more at stake than just dominating the games market though. Whoever comes out on top can lay claim to the living room TV at a time when consumers are boosting their spend on services streamed to it. Microsoft will want to beat the performance of its Xbox 360 which was first to market but lowest on the global sales leaderboard. About 76 million Xbox 360s had been shipped by the end of March, according to research firm IDC. By contrast Nintendo's Wii had shipped 99.4 million units and the PS3 78 million. However, the figures mask regional variations. Sony outsold Microsoft in Japan and continental Europe, but the Xbox proved more popular in the US and UK. It is also worth bearing in mind that demand for the Xbox 360 massively outstripped that for the original Xbox, so Microsoft can claim to have the most momentum. Certainly, this time round Nintendo has got off to a shaky start. Its Wii U missed the firm's sales targets - something the Japanese firm blamed on software delays. A reminder that hardware specs alone are unlikely to win the console war. "The games catalogue will be first and foremost the most important thing to get right this generation," said IDC's Lewis Ward. Ahead of Microsoft's event, the BBC asked five industry experts to detail their hopes and fears for the third Xbox. Peter Molyneux, 22cans 2013 is proving to be the year of the console hardware refresh. Although it's exciting, it's not nearly as exciting as when the Xbox 360 exploded onto the gaming scene just over seven years ago. Back then, the 360 represented a huge leap forward in gaming, with a tangible increase in performance and fantastic multiplayer support. Gamers and game-makers were justifiably super-excited. Now it is that time again, but the world has changed. Tablet, mobile PC and smartphone makers are refreshing their hardware on what feels like almost a weekly basis. And on the horizon looms Valve with its PC-based Steam Box. Thereby hangs the problem for Microsoft: how to justify its new console, how to get us all excited. Its competition is no longer Sony and Nintendo, but rather Apple, Google and Samsung. Rightfully, Microsoft can claim it won the last console generation. However, it has always targeted the living room as the big prize. That's why it packed the 360 with an array of "living room" features to try to persuade us that the machine could be a mix of set-top box, internet music streamer and Facebook browser. When I used to work at Microsoft the key phrase that I used to hear bandied around was the next Xbox should be "input one" on people's living room screen. Nowadays I'm an independent designer and I just want the next Xbox to be a great gaming machine. It should have great connectivity, so I can play spectacular games with my friends and be sold at a reasonable price, perhaps around $300 (£200). That should be Microsoft's goal rather than persisting in trying to make it a box for everyone. James McQuivey, Forrester Research Get ready, Xbox fans, for the end of gaming. Not that people are going to stop gaming, quite the opposite. More people will play more games for more minutes on more devices than ever before. But the only way that will happen is if games follow their media brethren - music, news, and video - by becoming mere features of a bigger, more encompassing experience. That means the "Nextbox" that Microsoft announces will make a very decided play for more attention from its users by ultimately promising them much more than gaming. Microsoft already admits that for its Xbox Live Gold members the majority of the time spent on the console is not spent on gaming but on video. Next, to really win in the living room, the firm must expand into every type of content possible, from any content partner available. It may even be time to retire the "game console" moniker as whatever Microsoft announces next should downplay the game as well as the console, using the box as a way to engage viewers in any content experience, paired with any other device the user happens to have, from iOS phone to Android tablet. The opportunity is there, as long as Microsoft is ready to confidently look beyond the hardcore gamers Sony seems stuck on, tossing them enough bones to keep them munching away happily at whatever comes next in the world of Halo, while boldly calling to residents of the living room who wouldn't ever think of themselves as owners of a "game" console. Rob Crossley, Computer and Video Games magazine Microsoft still believes in the potential of motion control - even if the concept has never really proved popular with the hardcore gamers most likely to be early adopters of its new console. Its first attempt was Kinect - a relatively advanced 3D camera that could detect people standing in front of the TV and determine what they were doing. This led to popular games such as Dance Central, in which Kinect would judge the player's dancing ability - or lack thereof - by recording their moves. The problem for most Kinect games was that the camera sometimes didn't pick up all the details, and was fairly unreliable, which limited the variety of games that could be created for it. Industry whispers suggest that Kinect on the next generation Xbox is so sophisticated that it can even detect where the player is looking. Whether that's true or not, it's likely that the tech will have undergone a noticeable upgrade, which will allow developers to be more creative with the camera technology. But there's something else up Microsoft's sleeve. The company recently showcased a mystifying new device called Illumiroom, which combines a Kinect with a projector that sits on a coffee table and throws a huge image across the wall that the TV is standing against. This means that the player will be able to watch high definition game-play on the television, as well as related footage in their peripheral vision. So, on a game like Call of Duty, the colours surrounding the TV will turn a marshy green when the player is crawling through the grass. Or, if the player is driving a Lamborghini at 140mph through Tokyo at night, the blur lines could spread out from the TV and into the wall. Illumiroom is still in its infancy, but if it makes it to market the next Xbox could bring about a revolution in the way that we watch games, and the way they watch us. Barry Meade, Fireproof Studios The founders of Fireproof first met at Criterion Games in 2004 where we spent five years working on the Burnout racing games for the PS3 and Xbox 360. We left to start our own company just before the economic crash of 2008 and hoped to make our own PS3/360 game funded by our contract work. Realistically though it was way beyond our means. Console games are superior experiences to mobile games but the huge costs involved make it a very tough place for teams our size to do business. Fast forward to 2012 and we set our sights smaller. We made a 3D puzzle game for iOS & Android called The Room, which went on to become a number one bestseller in 65 countries, Apple's Game Of The Year 2012 and Bafta's pick as 2013's best British Game. So we had to wonder - sitting in Guildford, a tiny team like us are gadflies to the UK console industry. The total money we spent making The Room would barely cover a team's set-up costs to develop for Sony and Microsoft platforms. The reality is that it is far, far easier to make games on mobile, even if it is arguably more competitive than the console space. Frankly, many game developers are rightly wondering why on earth they would go back to Sony and Microsoft platforms to embrace once again a plodding pace of change, interminable bureaucracy, exorbitant fees and, let's be honest, frequent head-in-the-sand arrogance from the giants of gaming hardware. Sony and Microsoft have to become a lot more developer-friendly - otherwise devs like us will never go back. Mary Hamilton, Guardian Australia/Serious Business The debut of the new Xbox console isn't just an opportunity for new games, better graphics and new engines. It's also an opportunity for new approaches to the culture of online gaming. Microsoft recently revealed that 38% of Xbox users are women, and Entertainment Software Association figures indicate that women aged 18 and over are one of the fastest growing demographics for games. But Xbox Online still has a horrendous reputation for abusive behaviour towards anyone female on voice chat, and Microsoft's own standards for online behaviour are rarely and inefficiently enforced. The new Xbox is an opportunity to change that. A less tolerant approach towards reports of abuse, coupled with privacy and mute settings that would let people avoid much of the worst abuse if they wished, could help set a high standard of behaviour and help women feel more comfortable in the online community. Microsoft should also continue to diversify its games if it wants to attract a committed female crowd. Both men and women have broader tastes than shooters and sports simulations. Creative games as well as games with strong and diverse characters will help to keep a maturing gaming community with Microsoft. Xbox Live Arcade's indie games already do a great deal to round out the big budget "AAA" fare available on Xbox - it will be crucial for Microsoft to keep working with that community of developers to bring diverse and unusual perspectives to their system. Women don't need pink games in order to flock to the Xbox - that's clear from the existing demographics. Instead, Microsoft should be encouraging diverse and interesting games, and creating an online environment that welcomes rather than pushes women away.

माइक्रोसॉफ्ट अपने अगली पीढ़ी के गेम कंसोल के विवरण का खुलासा करने वाले बड़े तीन कंसोल निर्माताओं में से अंतिम है, लेकिन प्रतीक्षा ने यकीनन केवल एक्सबॉक्स एक्सपोज़ की प्रत्याशा को बढ़ाया है।


LTTE agrees for peace talks.

Summary: The Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka have announced that they've agreed to hold direct talks with the government. The announcement follows mediation by Norwegian envoys after the assassination of the country's Foreign Minister last Friday.

This comes a week after the killing of the Sri Lankan foreign minister, Lakshman Kadirgamar. The talks will be the first high-level meeting between the rebels and the government in two-and-a-half years. The Norwegian deputy foreign minister, Vidar Helgesen, described it as a really significant step forward for the peace process against the backdrop of the killing of Mr Kadirgamar. He said the Tigers had agreed to discuss implementation of the ceasefire agreement after what has been a serious downward slide in the truce. It follows a meeting between the Norwegians and the Tigers' chief political negotiatior, Anton Balasingham, in London on Wednesday. So far, it hasn't been decided when or where the talks will take place, but the delegations are expected to include political and military personal. Earlier the political leader of the LTTE S. P. Thamilselven, told the BBC, that they will make a decision about talks with the government within the next few days. The announcement comes as the President of Sri Lanka had directly written to the Norwegian Prime Minster Kjell Magne Bondevik, requesting an urgent meeting between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, in the presence of the facilitator and the SLMM, to review the practical functioning of the Cease Fire Agreement with a view to preventing further killings and other violations.

श्रीलंका में तमिल टाइगर्स ने घोषणा की है कि वे सरकार के साथ सीधी बातचीत करने के लिए सहमत हुए हैं। यह घोषणा पिछले शुक्रवार को देश के विदेश मंत्री की हत्या के बाद नॉर्वे के राजदूतों द्वारा मध्यस्थता के बाद की गई है।


Pakistan activists targeted in Facebook attacks

Summary: In December 2016 Diep Saeeda, an outspoken human rights activist from the Pakistani city of Lahore, received a short message on Facebook from someone she didn't know but with whom she had a number of friends in common: "Hy dear."

By Secunder KermaniBBC News, Islamabad She didn't think much of it and never got round to replying. But the messages weren't coming from a fan of Mrs Saeeda's activism - instead they were the start of a sustained campaign of digital attacks attempting to install malware on her computer and mobile phone to spy on her and steal her data. Over the next year, she received multiple messages from the same Facebook account, apparently run by a young woman calling herself Sana Halimi, claiming to work for the United Nations. However, the attackers targeting Mrs Saeeda made crucial mistakes that allowed researchers from human rights group Amnesty International to trace a number of individuals linked either to the operation or to the malware used. They include a British-Pakistani cyber security expert running a company he claims to be based in Wales, and another who used to work for the Pakistani army's public relations wing. Mrs Saeeda is clear whom she believes is ultimately responsible for the attacks: "I'm convinced these are intelligence agencies... They try to harass people and force them to leave the country." She says in the past they targeted her for promoting dialogue between ordinary Pakistanis and Indians. "There was a time they would visit my home or office on a daily basis. When I get up in the morning, there would be two people outside my home." But she says the malware attacks were more invasive than anything she had previously experienced. Crackdown fears Amnesty International has spoken to three other Pakistan human rights activists who have been targeted in the same way. They discovered that the main piece of malware being used had also been used in previously documented attacks on Indian military and diplomatic officials. Amnesty International say they have no evidence of Pakistani state involvement and are unable to say who is ultimately responsible for conducting the attacks. Sherif Elsayed-Ali, director of global issues at Amnesty, told the BBC they were calling on the Pakistani authorities to investigate the attacks "as a matter of urgency… and to ensure that human rights defenders are adequately protected both online and offline". Human rights groups have repeatedly warned that the Pakistani intelligence services appear to be cracking down on activists who criticize them. In January 2017, a group of bloggers went missing for a number of weeks before being released. Two subsequently told the BBC that they had been detained by the security services and tortured. An activist vanishes A year after first establishing contact with Mrs Saeeda, "Sana Halimi" sent her the first messages with malware attached. Mrs Saeeda was at the time in a state of panic. One of her closest friends, fellow activist Raza Khan, had disappeared. The 40-year-old, who worked on promoting better relations between Pakistan and India, had been attending a talk on extremism on 2 December 2017. He hasn't been seen since leaving the event. The next day, friends found his door locked and light on - his computer missing. They believe he was taken into custody by the intelligence services. A few days after Mr Khan's disappearance, as Mrs Saeeda was becoming increasingly vocal in the media, she received her first malware attack. "Sana Halimi" sent her a fake Facebook login page via Facebook Messenger. Had she clicked on it, the site would've recorded her Facebook password. She didn't though and a few weeks later received another malware attack, again from "Sana Halimi." This time the message contained a link - apparently to a set of New's Year's Eve-themed photo filters. In fact, it was malware designed to hack into her mobile phone and intercept text messages. Again, Mrs Saeeda didn't click on the link. The attackers changed tactics. "Sana Halimi" messaged Mrs Saeeda, telling her she needed to talk to her privately about the disappearance of her friend Mr Khan. Mrs Saeeda, desperate for anything that could help locate Mr Khan, became suddenly interested. The messages continued for over two weeks and culminated in a message from "Sana Halimi" purportedly containing an attached document that would help her "understand" what had happened to Mr Khan. Mrs Saeeda attempted to download it but it was blocked by her computer's antivirus software. The document appeared to be another piece of malware. Over the subsequent weeks and months, Mrs Saeeda was repeatedly targeted in further attacks, this time over email. One email she received claimed to be from the office of the chief minister of Punjab, the province she lived in. It said the chief minister would be visiting her office to discuss the case of her still missing friend Mr Khan. By this time though, Mrs Saeeda was aware she was being targeted and forwarded the emails to Amnesty International instead of downloading the files. They discovered Mrs Saeeda had been sent at least two different pieces of malware, one by Facebook, and one by email. The malware attached to the email could, amongst other things, "log passwords, take pictures from the webcam, activate and record audio from the microphone, steal files from the hard disk". They identified this malware as a software called Crimson. Crimson attacks have been documented before. A number of cyber security firms wrote about the malware in March 2016 after discovering it was being used to target Indian military and diplomatic figures. Claudio Guarnieri, from Amnesty, told the BBC the Crimson malware used to target Mrs Saeeda was "almost identical" to that used in the past. An independent cyber security firm told the BBC it was "highly confident" the attacks documented by Amnesty had been carried out by the same group behind the attacks on Indian targets. 'Digital spy services' Amnesty was able to use the malware they examined to identify some of those associated with creating it. They discovered the malware linked to the New Year's Eve photo filters that "Sana Halimi" had sent to Mrs Saeeda via Facebook would send any stolen data to a server registered in Lahore. The owner of the server was a man called Faisal Hanif whose email address and phone number were listed in the server details. These linked to a Facebook profile revealing that Mr Hanif owned a company called Super Innovative. On its website, Super Innovative advertises digital spy services, which allow you to monitor calls, text messages and emails of your "children, company employees or loved ones" whilst remaining "unnoticeable". The company website claims to be based in Penarth, Wales. When the BBC visited the property, a woman living at the address admitted knowing Mr Hanif and told the BBC he did occasionally visit from Pakistan. But she said she knew nothing about the company Super Innovative. Mr Guarnieri says there is no evidence Mr Hanif or Super Innovative were involved in sending the malware to Mrs Saeeda but his research connects Mr Hanif to the creation of the malware used to target her. "What we believe is that they were the ones tasked to create these tools, but not necessarily the ones that used it." When contacted by the BBC, Mr Hanif denied involvement in the attacks on Mrs Saeeda. He said he believed he had been hacked - and his details falsely used to register the server linked to the malware. He denied having created any spyware that could be used to steal mobile phone data. Shortly after the BBC contacted Mr Hanif, the server linked to the attacks was taken down. No more email attachments In researching the creators of a previous version of the Crimson malware, the Amnesty team came across a massive lapse in security by those linked to it. A folder containing as yet unreleased copies of the malware was left publicly accessible. Mr Guarnieri told the BBC it was a "pretty common mistake" for those working in the field to make. As well as copies of the malware they found a word document that appeared to be an outline of an online team dedicated to targeting perceived opponents of the Pakistani army. The document states that part of their role consists of checking different websites "to see if there are any anti-army content on it, so we try to take them down or at least trace the administrators… We are working on different target accounts to trace their IP addresses or to compromise their accounts." By establishing the email address associated with the metadata of the document, Amnesty researchers traced it to an Islamabad-based cyber security expert, Zahid Abbasi. When confronted by the BBC, Mr Abbasi confirmed he had previously worked for a year for the Pakistani military's public relations team (ISPR) and that the document was genuine. He admitted his role included tracing the IP addresses of "people abusing institutions" online and "compromising their accounts" by, for example, sending them fake Facebook login pages. However, he denied that human rights activists were amongst those targeted or that he had any connection to the Crimson malware. There is no evidence that Mr Abbasi was involved in the attacks on Mrs Saeeda. There was no immediate response to the BBC's request for comment from the Pakistani army. Mrs Saeeda told the BBC: "After these attacks I feel insecure - even my own children sending me an email, I'm scared someone is using their name. I don't open emails with attachments." She added tearfully, "The people who are doing it are spending their resources and their energy on a person who has given 25 years in [peace] activism."

दिसंबर 2016 में पाकिस्तानी शहर लाहौर की एक मुखर मानवाधिकार कार्यकर्ता दीप सईदा को फेसबुक पर किसी ऐसे व्यक्ति से एक छोटा संदेश मिला जिसे वह नहीं जानती थी, लेकिन जिसके साथ उनके कई दोस्त थेः "हाय डियर"।


Ladybird Books: The strange things we learned

Summary: Ladybird Books is celebrating its 100th anniversary. The books delighted children for decades, but what did they teach us and have their lessons stood the test of time?

By Caroline LowbridgeBBC News The brand grew from a small printers in Loughborough, Leicestershire, called Wills & Hepworth, which registered the Ladybird imprint in 1915. Viewed today the books are striking for the warm and positive view of the world they presented children, says Professor Lawrence Zeegen, who has explored their history. But some of the illustrations and text seem strange - and even offensive - when viewed through a 21st Century lens. Women do all the housework In 1964 Ladybird launched its Key Words Reading Scheme, known by many people as "the Peter and Jane books". "Jane was obviously helping Mummy in the kitchen and Peter was helping Daddy wash and clean the car or working in the garage," says Prof Zeegan, author of a new book called Ladybird by Design. Ladybird was criticised for stereotyping and updated the books in the 1970s. "In the second generation of books you saw not just Mummy going out to work and being more proactive, you saw Jane doing things that certainly would have been considered ungainly 10 or 15 years before," adds Prof Zeegan. Jane started wearing jeans instead of dresses, Daddy started doing the washing up, and there was a less overtly gendered approach to Peter and Jane's games. Helen Day, a Ladybird book enthusiast who has collected at least 10,000 copies, highlights some of the subtle changes by posting before and after images on her Twitter page. "One was a picture of Mummy and Daddy in the 1960s wrapping up Christmas presents, and then when you look at the 1970s version it's almost identical but Daddy is looking engaging and holding up a pink ribbon," she says. "It's almost the same artwork but there's this tiny difference." Men do the important work Ladybird published a series called People At Work between 1962 and 1973, which Prof Zeegan described as "an absolute time capsule" of jobs from a bygone age. Men did nearly all of the jobs, with titles including The Fireman, The Policeman, The Farmer, The Postman, The Airman, The Builder and The Soldier. Ms Day said the exception was a "token" title called The Nurse. In here, we learned that "the doctors tell nurses what to do". Similarly, in The Customs Officer, we learned that if female customs officers "are not busy, they help with the office work". Ladybird gradually showed more working women, often referring to them as "girls". "You can sort of trace the way they are slowly entering," says Ms Day. "In the 1960s they occasionally do Hoovering up on a sewing line or something, and then you will find the boardroom and there's a woman without bouffant early 1970s hair taking notes when all the men are doing all the work," she says. "And then a little bit later you have a woman on a commuter train, a sort of career girl." Only Britain shaped the world Ladybird's Adventure from History series was published between 1956 and 1981. Prof Zeegan says the early books were written "very much from a British perspective". "They were very much from 'the world has been shaped by these really key important British adventurers and explorers and kings and queens and prime ministers etc', and it's fair to say that if you only learnt your history through Ladybird books you had a very British view of the world that pretty much said that Britain had shaped it." However, the later books recognised the achievements of other nations. There were also subtle changes to the illustrations, notably Sir Walter Raleigh. "In the first version of Raleigh we had been with the colonists, seeing the Indians coming out of the wood, and then in the 1980s you see it from the natives' standpoint looking down at the colonisers coming," says Ms Day. Some of the original text in the history books, written by Lawrence du Garde Peach, was also updated to make it less partisan. Everyone in Britain is white Some of the Ladybird books were "incredibly white", says Ms Day. "I've looked through to find out when the first black faces first appear and it's not until the 1960s," she says. "Despite an influx of immigrants welcomed to the UK to help rebuild Britain after the Second World War, there's no mention of that in Ladybird's world," says Prof Zeegan. However, he says the books started to become more representative in the early to mid 1970s. "By the time they were doing this it was probably a little too late to be honest. "I have to say they never or they rarely take centre stage. They are people in the background." Ms Day said subtle changes were made to the illustrations in later books, including airbrushing a golly from the window of a toy shop. "The reason we can now look back at [these books] and say 'Oh my goodness look at that, oh why did they do it that way, oh how funny, how quaint, how politically incorrect, how wrong' is because the books lasted," she adds. "If it was a teaching manual or something dry and dusty you would have read it in its time, it would have gone into the attic, it would have been chucked away and that would have been it. But these books lasted, and then they got handed down." Playing with fire Ladybird's science books showed activities including stripping the casing from a battery with pliers, using a penknife to shape wood into a propeller and making fire with a magnifying glass. In his book, Prof Zeegan says "it is unthinkable that any children's book publisher today would consider promoting activities in the same way". He has childhood memories of copying a magic trick that involved playing with matches and also remembers burning small insects with a magnifying glass. "I'm not overly proud of that, but that's the kind of fun and games we had. "I'm not sure there were any more accidents because of these books, probably not, but certainly nowadays children wouldn't be encouraged, they would probably be positively discouraged from the types of activities that Ladybird featured in this set of books." Space tourism Many Ladybird books predicted the way technology would develop. "It's really fascinating to see their future perspectives then," says Ms Day "I do love the space ones. So for example the first Exploring Space book was actually done before the moon landings, so they are predicting one day man will land on the moon. "It says 'Men may land on the moon by 1970'." Ladybird was correct, but other predictions were less accurate. "By the time you get to How it works, The Rocket, at the end of that they are predicting space tourism, and it looks like Peter and Jane are looking out of the window at the moon's surface," said Ms Day. "I remember at school writing essays about what the future would be like in the year 2000, and I remember writing a letter which was pretending to be from my own child who was on a moon base back to me, because you were so sure that by 2000 it was going to be like a Ladybird book." Mini computers are the size of a room The series 'How it works' had titles as diverse as Television, The Hovercraft and Farm Machinery. The contents of the books are like time capsules for what technology was once like. The Motor Car needed updating seven times, as it dated so quickly. "The computer is a great one because of course there's one particular illustration that depicts a computer the size of a small room, and I think it's described as a small computer for a businessman," says Prof Zeegan. "It's laughable today, but that's what's quite nice about that world." Richard III was bad Ms Day said the Kings and Queens of England books provoke an angry response from Ricardians on Twitter. "Richard III has a one-page write-up and if I tweet that picture people get really het up about it," she says. "If we go to book one you don't have much on Richard III himself but you've got a picture of the Princes in the Tower." The book states: "Richard had himself crowned as Richard III, and it is probable that the boy king was murdered by his orders. This has never been proved. Fortunately Richard's reign was short." "There's just a shadowy figure so we don't know who it is. It's a rather scary picture though. "In the first page of the second book you've got a picture of Bosworth Field and Henry VII being crowned, and he looks sort of dashing and good looking, so they [the Ricardians] get upset about the Tudor rhetoric." Nuclear power is definitely a good thing The Story of Nuclear Power, published in 1972 before accidents such as Chernobyl in 1986, is overwhelmingly positive in its description of nuclear power. "It's all part of a 1970s optimism, post-war, technology is good, the future is rosy, look at this beautiful artist's impression of Sellafield Power Station with blue, blue skies and happy seagulls," says Ms Day. The Story of Oil, also from the Achievements series, has a similarly optimistic view, stating: "Oil helps make the deserts fertile." "There's a picture of deserts with a few sheikhs standing around and little plants, and they are talking about oil being the secret for feeding the world because oil is going to turn the deserts fertile again." The USA is full of 'Cowboys and Indians' "Certainly through the 1960s we weren't well travelled, we had a particular view of our place, our standing in the world, we had won the Second World War, and the British Empire was still fairly intact," says Prof Zeegan. "The colonies were where they were, and we had a rather simple view of our standing in the world, and it's fair to say a rather condescending view of other civilisations." The Travel Adventure series reflected this. "This isn't to point a finger at the editorial team, the writers or the illustrators of the early 1960s at Ladybird, because I think Ladybird's view of the rest of the world was one that chimed with public perception. "Our sense of what the US was like was very much built from Hollywood movies, and you see in the Travel book to the USA depictions of cowboys and what we now know as Native Americans but were termed Red Indians. "The same is true of the books of Australia, where Aborigines are depicted in a particular way. "I wouldn't lay the blame at Ladybird's door, I think that Ladybird was reflecting a particular culture and a particular understanding of the rest of the world."

लेडीबर्ड बुक्स अपनी 100वीं वर्षगांठ मना रही है। किताबों ने दशकों तक बच्चों को खुश किया, लेकिन उन्होंने हमें क्या सिखाया और उनके सबक समय की कसौटी पर खरे उतरे?


Analysing Trump's letter to Kim Jong-un

Summary: Donald Trump called off the upcoming US-North Korea summit on Thursday morning, catching much of official Washington, and the world, by surprise. How he did it - in a personal letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un - offers revealing insight at Trump-style diplomacy and what might happen next.

Anthony ZurcherNorth America reporter@awzurcheron Twitter Paragraph one The missive from Donald Trump - addressed to "his excellency", an unusual title for Mr Kim - begins a bit like a corporate form letter, thanking the North Korean leader for his "time, patience and effort". There's a bit of a passive-aggressive dig at Mr Kim - pointing out that he was the one who wanted the meeting, even if that's "totally irrelevant" - and an emphasis that this was a "long-planned meeting" (the idea was first suggested in March and a date and time set just weeks ago). The real meat of the letter comes at the end of the paragraph, however, as the president's pen turns poison. The North Koreans announced Thursday morning that they had collapsed the tunnels at their nuclear test site, but they accompanied it with threats of nuclear war and a demeaning dig at Vice-President Mike Pence (called "a political dummy"). Mr Trump has shown time and time again that he won't abide verbal swipes from the North Koreans. He responds to their nuclear sabre-rattling with another round of "fire and fury" style language, boasting about the massive and powerful US nuclear arsenal that Donald Trump prays to God will never be used. It's a return to the rhetoric of last summer, when it appeared the US and North Korea were headed toward a military confrontation. The start of the letter may be diplomat-speak, but this is Mr Trump's voice coming through. Paragraph two By the second paragraph, the diplomatic gloves are back on. There's an emphasis on the recent thaw between the two nations (a "wonderful dialogue") and a hint that the door has not been fully slammed shut." The president writes that he is still looking forward to meeting the North Korean strongman (nuclear apocalypse notwithstanding). And releasing three American prisoners, one of whom had been sentenced to forced labour in a sham trial, was a much-appreciated "beautiful gesture". There will certainly be some critics who question whether this is an appropriate place to turn on the charm. Paragraph three The business letter template kicks in again in the closing paragraph, albeit with somewhat tortured prose. "If you change your mind having to do with this most important summit, please do not hesitate to call me or write". We have operators standing by! It finishes on a wistful note. In his tweet announcing the time and place of the now-cancelled summit, the president had said the meeting could be a "very special moment for World Peace". His supporters broached the idea that he should win a Nobel Prize, which he acknowledged by saying "everyone thinks so", adding "the prize I want is victory for the world". Instead, it's a "sad moment in history".

डोनाल्ड ट्रम्प ने गुरुवार की सुबह आगामी अमेरिका-उत्तर कोरिया शिखर सम्मेलन को रद्द कर दिया, जिससे अधिकांश आधिकारिक वाशिंगटन और दुनिया आश्चर्यचकित हो गई। उन्होंने यह कैसे किया-उत्तर कोरियाई नेता किम जोंग-उन को एक व्यक्तिगत पत्र में-ट्रम्प-शैली की कूटनीति और आगे क्या हो सकता है, इस पर अंतर्दृष्टि प्रदान करता है।


The drugs being used at UK festivals

Summary: Over the summer, thousands of people will flock to festivals to socialise and enjoy music. Despite all the warnings, some will take drugs - but what do we know about the substances being used and the risks they pose?

By Jon Waldron and Prof Valerie CurranUniversity College London In May two young adults died at the Mutiny dance music festival in Portsmouth, after organisers issued an alert about the availability of dangerous drugs at the site. The parents of victims Georgia Jones, 18, and Tommy Cowan, 20, warned others about drug use, but such stories are not uncommon - every year we hear of people dying at festivals. Knowing more about what people are using - and what the risks might be - is crucial to protect them from harm. Who is using drugs? Up-to-date information about the drugs being used at festivals and the number of people taking them is limited. However, as a large proportion of people at festivals are under the age of 35, drug use figures for UK 15- to 34-year-olds from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) may give some insight. These suggest that across the population as a whole, illegal drugs are used by a minority of young adults. The most common, cannabis, was used by 12% of people in this age group in 2017, while cocaine was used by 4%, ecstasy by 3% and ketamine and amphetamines by 1%. It is thought that rates of use are higher among clubbers and festivalgoers than the population as a whole. But figures from 10 major UK festivals between 2008-11 showed that seizures of drugs fell rapidly over the period. A later Freedom of Information request for drug seizures at the Glastonbury Festival between 2014-16 showed a sharp fall in the number of arrests but a rise in the amount of cocaine, ecstasy/MDMA and ketamine confiscated by police. Stronger drugs Perhaps the most worrying trend is the recent rise in deaths attributed to club drugs, notably ecstasy and cocaine. Deaths in England and Wales linked to ecstasy pills reached their highest level in 2016 at 63 - up from 10 in 2010. Meanwhile, the number of cocaine-related deaths rose from 112 in 2011 to 371 in 2016. The number of people using drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy has remained largely stable, which suggests that the rise in deaths and hospital admissions is not down to more drugs being used. Instead, the big change has been a dramatic rise in purity and strength. For example, while the average content of MDMA - the active ingredient in ecstasy pills - was between 50mg and 80mg in the 2000s, it is thought that pills in Europe now contain an average of about 125mg. "Super strength" pills containing over 270mg have also been seen. Another worrying development is the emergence of so-called new psychoactive substances - synthetic drugs made in laboratories, designed to mimic the effects of "traditional" substances. By 2015 the EMCDDA was actively monitoring more than 450 substances, with the potential risks varying with each one. Often, they can have the same appearance as "traditional" drugs - frequently fine white powders - allowing them to be intentionally mis-sold to unwitting customers. The problems caused by drugs Source: The Loop, Talk to Frank, NHS Choices Ultimately, no drug use can be considered truly safe and the only way to avoid the risk of harm completely is to avoid using them. However, the reality is that, for some, drugs and festivals go hand in hand. Drugs campaign group The Loop has previously tested the contents of substances seized by police and security at events but wants more festivalgoers to be allowed to have samples tested themselves. It offered the service at a number of events last year and says that where this has happened about 20% of people decide not to take their drugs after hearing the results. This year, Bestival has said that although it "strongly advises festivalgoers to avoid taking any illegal substances", it will allow testing by The Loop to give people "the opportunity to make informed choices". Local police are aware and say they "are exploring all safety options". The Loop, which has said people who do use drugs should take only a small amount to test how it affects them, also issues alerts via social media about potentially dangerous adulterated or high-strength batches they have identified. However, some festival organisers have previously called for police to clarify whether they support offering testing to festivalgoers and have raised concerns that the results "have the ability to mislead". The Home Office has said "no drug-taking can be assumed to be safe". More like this: Those who do decide to keep their drugs after testing cannot be certain about all of the drugs they have. Substances can vary markedly in their content even within the same batches. And popular designs of pills, including logos, are often copied. It is not possible for someone to know all the pills they have are the same. Combining different drugs can cause very dangerous interactions. It would be an oversight not to mention the most ubiquitous festival drug - alcohol. Across society, it causes more harm than any other drug and has been linked to 337,000 hospital admissions in England in 2016-2017 and 5,507 deaths in 2016. Almost six out of 10 UK adults drink alcohol weekly and at festivals it is not unreasonable to assume that many people will be drinking more than usual. So, while some festivalgoers need to think very carefully about banned substances they plan to take, the problem facing a greater number will be making sure they don't overdo it on the drink. About this piece This analysis piece was commissioned by the BBC from experts working for an outside organisation. Jon Waldron and Prof Val Curran are members of the Electronic Music Scene Survey team, a European research project (funded in the UK by the Department of Health) and based at the Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London. Edited by Duncan Walker

गर्मियों में हजारों लोग संगीत का आनंद लेने के लिए त्योहारों में आते हैं। सभी चेतावनियों के बावजूद, कुछ लोग ड्रग्स लेंगे-लेकिन हम उपयोग किए जा रहे पदार्थों और उनके जोखिमों के बारे में क्या जानते हैं?


Driver arrested after fatal Bingley road crash

Summary: A man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving following a fatal crash.

The 24-year-old was driving a blue Audi RS4 which collided with a tree and a lamppost on Bradford Road, Bingley, shortly after 04:10 GMT on Sunday. The male passenger, who was 22 and from Bradford, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, also from Bradford, was taken to hospital for treatment to minor injuries. Related Internet Links West Yorkshire Police

एक घातक दुर्घटना के बाद खतरनाक ड्राइविंग से मौत के संदेह में एक व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया गया था।


Bid to make Cairngorm funicular walks permanent

Summary: Guided walks from the Cairngorm mountain railway's top station on to the Cairn Gorm plateau could be made available on a more regular basis.

After opening in 2001, people were not allowed to use the funicular as a quick means of reaching the mountain. In 2010, Scottish Natural Heritage and Highland Council gave permission for guided walks to be run as a trial. Highland Council will be asked on Wednesday to formally approve the continuation of the walks. SNH held a public consultation on the plan and has said that the walks would have "no effect" on the integrity of the site. CairnGorm Mountain Limited, which manages the funicular and the Cairngorm ski resort on behalf of Highlands and Islands Enterprise, has sought permission to continue its Walk @ The Top events. Approval is needed from Highland Council because of conditions it attached to its planning permission for the funicular railway.

केयर्नगोर्म पर्वत रेलवे के शीर्ष स्टेशन से केयर्न गोर्म पठार तक निर्देशित पैदल यात्रा अधिक नियमित आधार पर उपलब्ध कराई जा सकती है।


The turban-wearing British bus driver who changed the law

Summary: Fifty years ago, Sikhs working on Wolverhampton's buses won the right to wear the turban at work. It followed a long-running dispute during which one Sikh man threatened to set himself on fire.

By Riyah CollinsBBC News It was a time when racial tensions there were high, with the city's most famous MP Enoch Powell saying the country was "heaping up its own funeral pyre" by permitting mass immigration. The Express and Star newspaper reported the turban dispute "could bring chaos to the town's bus services", but it was not just public transport that faced upheaval. Refusing to remove his turban or shave his beard, Tarsem Singh Sandhu sparked a row that spread across the world and saw the nation's racial tensions and identity politics played out on Black Country double-deckers. "I couldn't see anyone in Wolverhampton at that time with a turban," remembers Mr Sandhu, who arrived in the Midlands in his 20s more than 50 years ago. Wolverhampton was different back then, he said. He remembers the racism, the teddy boys, and when he plucked up the courage to wear his turban, colleagues wearing crude mockeries on their heads. Soon after arriving, he was pinned down by uncles who cut his hair against his will. He would never get a job with a turban, he was told. At 23, he began working as a bus driver with Wolverhampton Transport Committee which at the time employed 823 drivers, 411 of whom were Indian. All had signed the uniform policy, agreeing to come to work clean shaven and wearing the uniform cap. None of them wore a turban. After a short illness in 1967, Mr Sandhu returned to work complete with turban and beard. Hair is one of the five Sikh articles of faith for the Khalsa - it must not be cut and is maintained in a turban - and Mr Sandhu decided he could not forgo his religion for the sake of a bus driver uniform. After one round trip, he was sent home to shave. He refused. "I never thought it would be as big a dispute as it was," Mr Sandhu said, "because there was nothing wrong with what I was doing." Fifty years on, a young turban fitter, Vikran Jaat Singh, said more young people than ever are wearing the turban. Famously, in June last year, Charanpreet Singh Lall became the first Sikh guardsman to wear a turban during the Trooping the Colour parade. "Before, everyone used to cut their hair," Mr Singh said, but he now runs a business fitting turbans for special occasions. "If someone says 'go to work without your leg', would you?" he asked. "Turbans are part of us - you can't leave part of yourself behind." What Mr Sandhu did, according to Opinderjit Takhar, director of the centre for Sikh and Panjabi Studies at the University of Wolverhampton, "is so significant to the lives of Sikhs here in the UK". The former bus driver, who still lives in Wolverhampton, modestly said his actions, which went on to change legislation about religious expression at work, were "natural". "He showed religion shouldn't take a back seat," Dr Takhar said. "As people realised they were here to stay, they realised they no longer had to compromise on their identity." After he was suspended in 1967, Mr Sandhu tried to gain the support of his union, Sikh community groups and local gurdwaras. "They only had one thing to say," Mr Sandhu remembers. "No." "Some [Sikh] people supported me; they thought we have done something wrong, we have made a mistake [by cutting their hair], but at least there is one young man who stood up for what is right and we must support him," Mr Sandhu said. "Others thought 'we've come to work in this country and he's creating problems'." He turned instead to the Shiromani Akali Dal - the principal Sikh political party of Punjab - and the president of its UK branch, Sohan Singh Jolly. "He was a very strong character," Mr Sandhu said. He had been a practising Sikh all his life, serving as a police inspector for the British Raj in Kenya. During the British Raj, turbans were accepted as normal. Millions of Sikhs fought for Britain during both world wars, forgoing helmets for their turbans. A march through Wolverhampton drew 6,000 Sikhs from across the country to the town hall, demanding change. The message was also spreading overseas: A 50,000-strong march was organised through Delhi in support of Mr Sandhu and Mr Jolly. When nothing happened, Mr Jolly heaped pressure by making the ultimate threat. "He said he would burn himself to death," Mr Sandhu said, "because it's not worth living in this country where the discrimination is that much." Mr Jolly set a deadline of 30 April 1969 - the Sikh new year - for Wolverhampton Transport Committee to lift the ban on turbans. "I am not frightened for anything," he said at the time. "I find it my privilege to sacrifice for the Sikh community." But those on the other side of the dispute were also escalating their arguments, with one man in particular rallying support for the ban: Enoch Powell. On 20 April 1968, moments before likening himself to the Roman witnessing "the River Tiber foaming with much blood", the MP for Wolverhampton South described the turban dispute as "a cloud no bigger than a man's hand that can so rapidly overcast the sky". Powell was sacked after the now infamous Rivers of Blood speech, but his words had already had their impact. People thought "he's come to this country he should do what this country does", Mr Sandhu said. Powell received strong support from the public, with dockers and meat packers marching in support of him, and the local newspaper was flooded with letters supporting his speech. The Wolverhampton Transport Committee had found itself at the centre of a row which had outgrown the council house. Buoyed by the public reaction to Powell's speech, the committee remained firm. In 1968, its chairman Ron Gough told BBC News turbans were never likely to be seen on a Wolverhampton bus. However, as Mr Jolly's deadline drew ever nearer, the pressure became intense and the ban was lifted on 9 April 1969. The following day, an editorial in the Express and Star said the end of the dispute was "hardly a victory for anyone". The argument, the paper said, had "made the name of Wolverhampton a sad by word for racial injustice and intolerance". Mr Sandhu said the city had changed drastically since he was a young man. Now, Sikhs are visible everywhere, he said, "freely going anywhere, doing any job". Dr Takhar said Mr Sandhu "really put Sikh identity on the map" and made a "huge difference" in raising awareness of the turban's significance. "It's thanks to him we have so many educated people, young people and women wearing turbans," she said. Wolverhampton is now home to the UK's second largest Sikh population. "Somebody has to take a stand whenever something is not being done right and put it right," Mr Sandhu said. "I was proud I did that." 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पचास साल पहले, वोल्वरहैम्प्टन की बसों में काम करने वाले सिखों को काम पर पगड़ी पहनने का अधिकार मिला था। यह लंबे समय से चल रहे विवाद के बाद हुआ था, जिसके दौरान एक सिख व्यक्ति ने खुद को आग लगाने की धमकी दी थी।


Bollington house fire: Woman found dead by crews

Summary: A woman has been found dead following a house fire, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service has said.

Crews were called after 11:20 GMT on Saturday to a small fire at a property in Grimshaw Lane, Bollington. Firefighters extinguished a fire in the floorboards and later found the body of a woman in her 80s on the smoke-logged first floor. Her next of kin have been informed. The cause of the fire is being investigated. The fire is not thought to be suspicious. Related Internet Links Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Website

चेशायर फायर एंड रेस्क्यू सर्विस ने कहा है कि एक घर में आग लगने के बाद एक महिला मृत पाई गई है।


Nice attack death toll rises to 86 as injured man dies

Summary: The number of people killed when a lorry ploughed into crowds in the French city of Nice on 14 July has risen to 86.

A French government official said a man who had been injured in the attack on the Promenade des Anglais died of his injuries. The man, who has not been named, leaves behind a wife and two children. The attack, which has been claimed by so-called Islamic State, was carried out by a Tunisian man living in France. Eighty-three people died on the night of the attack on Bastille Day and three have since died in hospital of injuries sustained when Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove a lorry into celebrating crowds. Among the dead were 10 children and teenagers.

फ्रांस के नीस शहर में 14 जुलाई को एक लॉरी द्वारा भीड़ में घुसने से मारे गए लोगों की संख्या बढ़कर 86 हो गई है।