The road markings that left red faces

Summary: A wonky cycle path sign that appeared in the Lincolnshire market town of Sleaford last weekend caused much mirth among local residents, who described it as looking like a penny farthing - albeit one with angular wheels.

By Pritti MistryBBC News But this was far from the first time bungling contractors have been left with red faces. BBC News rounds up some of the gaffes that have hit the headlines. A 'claer' sign of incompetence When a misspelt road marking appeared outside a school in Chester, the finger of blame was as usual pointed at hapless contractors. The lettering outside Highfield Community Primary School, in Blacon, was "claer" evidence that spelling was not the forte of the person who painted it. The marking was hastily corrected, at no cost to the council, after it appeared in February 2014. It's a cover-up At least the simplest of fixes was possible when blundering workmen misspelled the word "minutes" as "minuites" at an NCP car park at Cambridge's railway station. Although it was two years before anything was done about the gaffe, eventually an NCP boss harnessed an inner Mick Jagger and gave the order: "I want it painted black." Thus the offending "I" was covered up to restore basic literacy to this corner of Cambridge. NCP said those responsible for the cock-up were "committed to playing Scrabble in their lunchtimes as spelling revision". 'Pointless' yellow lines A set of double yellow lines that appeared in Cardiff last summer couldn't be faulted in terms of execution - but the location chosen for the markings led to the city council being widely mocked. That's because the road on which the lines were painted is barely 5ft (1.5m) wide and too narrow for anything but a toy car. Despite the markings being branded "ridiculous" and a "waste of money", the beleaguered council stuck to its guns, arguing the double yellows were necessary to "deter anti-social parking on the narrow access lane". 'Fuelish' mistake Motorists using a supermarket petrol station in Doncaster were amused to find themselves being directed towards a species of low-flying seabird. The word "petrel" was painted in 3ft letters, next to the flawlessly spelt word "exit" and some perfectly drawn arrows, on the approach to the pumps at the Sainsbury's Edenthorpe store in September 2016. In a light-hearted response, Sainsbury's said it was "correcting the misteke". Crossing a line Not wanting to let anything as inconvenient as a parked car get in their way, slapdash council contractors tasked with painting double yellow lines in a suburb of Leeds simply daubed the markings around the vehicle. However, once the car's owner returned and drove away, the lines were left sticking out from the kerb. Leeds City Council branded the markings in Hyde Terrace, Clarendon, as "ridiculous" and said it would remind contractors "to use common sense" in future. The lines were later repainted. Lost in translation Welsh-speaking drivers in Swansea were bemused to encounter a road sign that informed them: "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated." Above the baffling statement on the dual-language sign was the correct wording in English: "No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only". The howler came about because a non-Welsh speaking council employee emailed the authority's in-house translation service, and took the response received as the translation being sought for the new road sign. Brensiach!

पिछले सप्ताहांत में स्लीफोर्ड के लिंकनशायर बाजार शहर में दिखाई देने वाले एक विचित्र साइकिल पथ संकेत ने स्थानीय निवासियों के बीच बहुत खुशी पैदा की, जिन्होंने इसे एक पैनी फार्थिंग की तरह बताया-हालांकि कोणीय पहियों वाला।


Frae Wisconsin tae Wigtown: How an American won a Scots poetry prize

Summary: The roots of poetry run deep in the south of Scotland.

By Giancarlo RinaldiSouth Scotland reporter, BBC Scotland news website The lands that were once home to Robert Burns, James Hogg and Christopher Murray Grieve - better known as Hugh MacDiarmid - have inspired more than their fair share of verse. Here, too, sits the nation's book town and home to an annual poetry prize - one section of which celebrates the Scots language. But as soon as this year's winner of that particular award speaks, you would know she hails from a little further west than Wigtown. Renita Boyle was born and raised in Wisconsin. She picked up a storytelling bug from her great-grandfather, a lumberjack, who used to tell her tales he had once recounted around the campfire. Then personal loss saw her turn to poetry. "I think, like a lot of people who write poetry or any kind of writing at all, they do it because they can't not - it is just something that is in you to do," she said. "My father died when I was 13 years old and the first thing I did was go up to my bedroom and I wrote a poem. "It is quite a therapeutic thing for me to do." Nonetheless, it was still quite a journey to end up gaining recognition for her writing in Scots. It is partly about belonging, she explained. She met her future husband in Glasgow more than 30 years ago. She was welcomed into that family before having family of her own and then moving to Wigtown a decade ago. Storytelling has always been in her blood but now, over the years, the words and ways of Scotland have started to seep in. Another factor has been the role of Wigtown itself, which she credits for a creative energy and artistic support network that gave her the push to give the language a try. One key figure in that effort was Scots poet and former James Hogg writer-in-residence, Rab Wilson. 'Beautiful work' "Rab is always trying to get everybody to read and write in Scots," said Ms Boyle. "He's the one that actually said - when are you going to write a Scots poem?" Then Spring Fling writer-in-residence Marjorie Lofti Gill encouraged her to consider writing about an artwork. Her winning poem, Sloe Jen, was inspired by a piece by artist Lisa Hooper but also a motherly fear of watching her teenage son leave the nest. Judges praised the "lovely, consistent" use of the Scots language and described it as a "sad and beautiful work". Some will wonder how an American can possibly write in Scots, but Ms Boyle said that was not such a problem. It's reciting, still with a distinctive accent, that is most testing. But she has braved those waters just the same, thanks to a passion for the language that might put a few native Scots to shame. "I don't think I have conquered the Scots language," she said. "Although I have written in Scots, I won't ever write in Scots the way that a Scottish person would write in Scots. "There are some things you will never do in the same way as somebody who is native but there are other things you can bring to it because you are not native." Ms Boyle said it might be a one-off, she might never write poetry again in the language of her adopted nation but she burst with pride at the recognition her work received. "It meant a lot to me," she said. "I actually cried when I won and that was not just about winning a prize, that was actually about affirming an identity I think." As the world becomes a smaller place, it could be a trend we see more and more. Historically, too, some writers have turned their backs on their mother tongue for one they feel suits them better. A language is, after all, a living and evolving thing. So, perhaps you don't have to have used it all your life in order to get the best out of it.

कविता की जड़ें स्कॉटलैंड के दक्षिण में गहरी हैं।


What if all workplaces had to be a third female?

Summary: As a report suggests progress on closing the gender pay gap is slowing, lawyer and life peer Baroness Kennedy looks to the new shadow cabinet, where a third of members have to be female, and argues it could be an interesting blueprint for all workplaces.

So women will make up nearly half of Ed Miliband's shadow cabinet. I told my sons this was to foreshadow things to come. The White House has just produced a report that says no quantum leap will be made on the issue of gender unless there is a critical mass of women in any workplace. If we want things to change we are going to have to get tough - at least a third of the army to be women, a third of submariners and a third of the Arsenal football team. It was the Arsenal bit that brought a narrowing of their eyes. I held their gaze with a fixed stare. This was a crucial test of the feminist mothering of sons. "Could work. We haven't won the trophy for five years. There are no English players. But they'd have to be fit." "Of course, they'd be fit." I said. "This is Premier League football we are talking about. Women can do it." "Fit, Mum. Good looking. Distract the other side, Mum. It could work." Men can laugh. But underneath the badinage is a continuing truth that, despite all the gains, women are still not up there in the top jobs; one woman in the Supreme Court, a tiny number heading FTSE companies, a third of all boards totally male, four women in a government cabinet of 23 (although Gordon Brown's first Cabinet was little better on this front - with just five women and 17 men). It is not a great story. Last week Chambers Directory gave awards to lawyers and barely a woman got a mention. There were yards of men in penguin suits and hardly a sequinned frock to be seen. When I became President of the Women of the Year Lunch the grumblers all asked why such an event was necessary in 2010. "What are you thinking about, Helena. All that is old hat." Really? And the naysayers are not all men on this score. Some women too think the day has gone for celebrating women's achievements, though they are usually women who live and work in the comfort zones. I have worked too long in law to think that everything has been done on equality for women. The prevalence of domestic violence and the failure of the justice system on rape cases are testament to continuing problems here, but the fact that women continue to suffer most human rights abuses around the world - from honour killing to genital mutilation, from stoning to forced marriage, from abortion of the girl child to sexual violence and trafficking - tells us that there is still much to done. When I was a young woman at the Bar, there were chambers with an unofficial policy that they just did not take women - women did not have what it took to stand up in court and argue coherently or cross-examine. Our brains were not suited to the kind of logical discipline that the law required. Then there were those chambers that were cannier, whose leaders said: "Women? We are not against women. We've got one." Those were the days. Women are now half the intake in most university courses, including law. They appear to be everywhere. Yet women still do not follow through into the senior jobs. We keep being told it is just a matter of time and that evolution will solve the problem, as though, like fish growing feet, women will eventually develop into the kind of person who can wield power. In most institutions, women have reached a plateau at around 18% in senior roles from the financial sector to the judiciary. The interesting question now is why we are stuck. Usually it is a combination of factors around the inability of institutions to adapt and become more flexible to accommodate women's lives but it is also about the culture of organisations, exclusive networks which work to the disadvantage of women, and the failure of leading men to bring talented women on. I always remember a woman friend, who was a Conservative politician, very astutely noticing that men did not "talk up" young women in the way they did young men. It is partly that we tend to choose as our protegees people in whom we see our younger selves. There is a self-perpetuating tendency in all institutions for this reason which leads to their replication in the old order. I had the good fortune of being mentored by some wonderful men who gave me opportunities and advice throughout my career but not all women have such good luck. The challenge is for men to break the old patterns in a conscious way. The Women of the Year Lunch is an opportunity to celebrate women. Some have high profile but most do great things below the radar. They have broken barriers and broken records, struggled against the odds and survived, created projects to improve our world and left us breathless with wonder. What's to sneer at? Measuring achievement is a way of taking stock, paying tribute and sending out signals to all women that women are continuing to move on. We have to keep doing that - out and proud of the contribution women make. And there is nothing po-faced about this event. Boy, do we laugh. But without the boys.

जैसा कि एक रिपोर्ट बताती है कि लिंग वेतन अंतर को बंद करने की प्रगति धीमी हो रही है, वकील और जीवन साथी बैरोनेस कैनेडी नए छाया मंत्रिमंडल की ओर देखते हैं, जहां एक तिहाई सदस्य महिलाएँ होनी चाहिए, और तर्क देते हैं कि यह सभी कार्यस्थलों के लिए एक दिलचस्प खाका हो सकता है।


London cyclist deaths: What other cities could teach the capital

Summary: A cyclist has died in a crash with a tipper truck, making her the eighth cyclist to die on London's roads this year. Could the capital learn anything from other cities to keep its cyclists safe?

By Caroline LowbridgeBBC News The death of the 26-year-old woman on Monday morning came just three days after a 50-year-old cyclist died following a collision with a car in Harrow. Last year a total of 13 cyclists were killed on London's roads and 14 died in 2013. Here are five ideas from other cities that might help to improve safety for cyclists. Amsterdam - Let cyclists rule the streets If more people commuted by bicycle there would be fewer cars on the roads and therefore fewer vehicles with the potential to kill cyclists. But it is a Catch-22 situation, because some people are too afraid to cycle because of the safety risks. This problem has been overcome in The Netherlands, where there are more bicycles than residents and in cities like Amsterdam and The Hague up to 70% of all journeys are made by bike. But it was not always this way. Car ownership rocketed in the 1950s and 1960s, roads became increasingly congested and there was a huge rise in the number of deaths on the roads. In 1971 more than 3,000 people were killed by motor vehicles, 450 of them children. In response a movement called Stop de Kindermoord (Stop the Child Murder) was formed, demanding safer cycling conditions for children. The Middle East oil crisis of 1973, when oil-producing countries stopped exports to the US and Western Europe, also applied further pressure. The Dutch government then invested in improved cycling infrastructure and Dutch urban planners started to diverge from car-centric road-building policies. Paris - Tougher restrictions on lorries In Paris and Dublin there are tight restrictions on lorries. In Paris, trucks bigger than 43 metres squared cannot drive without special dispensation, while smaller trucks are restricted to certain times of the day. In Dublin there is a ban on vehicles with more than five axles between 07:00 and 19:00 within a designated cordon and permits are needed for vehicles to load and unload. Olympian cyclist Chris Boardman called on London Mayor Boris Johnson in 2013 to consider banning lorries from some of the capital's roads during peak times. But Mr Johnson told BBC London 94.9 he was not convinced by the argument, saying a peak-time ban risked damaging London companies and creating a "serious influx as soon as the ban is over". A Safer Lorry Scheme is due to come into force in London from this September, under which large lorries without safety equipment are to be "effectively banned". Any vehicle weighing more than 3.5 tonnes will need to have side guards and extra mirrors to go on roads in Greater London - apart from motorways. Baroness Jenny Jones, Green Party peer, has raised the idea of a rush hour ban again, following the latest death. She tweeted: "So sad and such a waste. What is being done to make tipper trucks safer? "Ban all tipper trucks and large lorries at rush hour to give cyclists and pedestrians a chance to stay safe." Tokyo - More cycling on pavements In Tokyo and elsewhere in Japan it is common to see cyclists and pedestrians sharing pavements. However, cyclists in the UK can find themselves in trouble with the police for doing the same thing - even if they are a four-year-old girl who still uses stabilisers. Not all pavement cycling is illegal, as some paths have signs indicating their use is shared between cyclists and pedestrians. There has been ongoing debate about balancing the safety of cyclists with the safety of pedestrians. The parents of a Buckingham girl who was killed by a cyclist have campaigned for the introduction of more serious penalties for cyclists who cause deaths. However, the number of pedestrians killed or seriously injured by cyclists is small compared to the number of cyclists killed by cars, lorries and other road vehicles. Malmö - Two-way cycle lanes Most cycle lanes in the UK are painted on the side of normal roads, meaning cars, lorries and other vehicles can drive in them and potentially hit cyclists. There are further problems when vehicles park in cycle lanes, forcing cyclists to weave in and out of them and into the path of traffic. In contrast, the Swedish city of Malmö has a network of two-way cycle lanes for cyclists which are kept separate from the areas of the road reserved for cars. Olle Evenäs, a traffic planner for Malmö, attributed the city's cycling safety record to these lanes. "We never have painted lanes as cycle tracks; we always have a dedicated surface which is separated from the car traffic by a divider and up a level from car traffic," he said. A higher proportion of journeys are made by bicycle in Malmö compared to London - with estimates usually put at 25% or 30%, compared to 1% or 2% for London. But between 2003 and 2012 there were only 16 cyclists killed in an accident involving a car in Malmö. Copenhagen - A 'Cycle Snake' A bright orange bicycle-only bridge called the Cykelslangen opened in Copenhagen, Denmark, last year. As well as keeping cyclists safely away from cars, the bridge keeps cyclists out of the way of pedestrians on the harbour front. Young cyclists in Copenhagen told BBC Newsround the bridge, also known as the Cycle Snake, made them feel safer.

एक साइकिल चालक की टिप्पर ट्रक से दुर्घटना में मृत्यु हो गई है, जिससे वह इस साल लंदन की सड़कों पर मरने वाली आठवीं साइकिल चालक बन गई है। क्या राजधानी अपने साइकिल चालकों को सुरक्षित रखने के लिए अन्य शहरों से कुछ सीख सकती है?


Hexham: Train crashes into taxi at Warden level crossing

Summary: A train has crashed into a taxi at a level crossing causing late night rail disruption.

Emergency services were called to Warden, near Hexham, Northumberland, at about 19:15 GMT. British Transport Police said no casualties have been reported, with the incident not currently being treated as suspicious. Northern said services between Hexham and Carlisle were unable to run, with bus replacement services organised.

एक ट्रेन एक लेवल क्रॉसिंग पर एक टैक्सी से टकरा गई जिससे देर रात रेल बाधित हो गई।


Wightlink Portsmouth-Fishbourne ferry terminal plans submitted

Summary: A ferry operator has submitted planning applications to improve its terminals ahead of a new cross-Solent car and passenger ferry.

Wightlink Ferries wants to add new ramps to speed up boarding times at the Portsmouth Gunwharf and Fishbourne ports. The new flagship would come into service in 2017 as part of a £45m investment. It will carry 178 vehicles and more than 1,000 people on each crossing. A Wightlink spokeswoman said the investment aimed to "increase vessel capacity and reliability of the service and cut congestion for passengers". Isle of Wight Council and Portsmouth City Council will hold consultations about the proposals, with a decision expected in early 2016.

एक नौका संचालक ने एक नई क्रॉस-सोलेंट कार और यात्री नौका से पहले अपने टर्मिनलों को बेहतर बनाने के लिए योजना आवेदन प्रस्तुत किए हैं।


Coronavirus: They've worked for years, but still miss out on furlough

Summary: The UK government has been paying the wages of almost nine million workers who are unable to do their jobs because of the coronavirus outbreak. But what's life like for the hundreds of thousands of people who can't work and aren't getting the money?

By Justin ParkinsonBBC News "It's just the pits," says Angela, a 48-year-old jewellery shop manager from Manchester. "It's astonishing that you work for so many years and pay tax and there's so little help." Angela started her new job on 16 March, just a week before non-essential retail closed down because of coronavirus. When the government announced its furlough scheme - paying employees up to 80% of their salary, covering wages of up to £2,500 a month - she wasn't covered, because it only applied to people who'd been in their job since at least 28 February, Chancellor Rishi Sunak later extended furlough to people who had started work as recently as 19 March - but this still didn't help Angela because her employer hadn't put her details through HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by that date. Instead, she's receiving Jobseekers' Allowance (JSA) worth just over £300 a month - about a sixth of her normal income. And the JSA ends in eight weeks' time. Angela and her partner, a self-employed roofer whose earnings are patchy at the moment, have bills of £850 a month to pay and - when their payment holiday ends - a mortgage of £450 a month. "Someone could have started in my job a few days earlier than me, having never worked before in their lives, and still got the full furlough payment of 80% of their wages," she says. "And I get nothing, having paid tax for years. It's just silly." Many shops have reopened but Angela's hasn't. "With jewellery we have to be in close contact with people," she says. "We have to look and see whether things fit or suit people. Customers are choosing important things, like their baby's first bracelet or their engagement ring." Now laid off, she's applying for other jobs, and has no idea when the jewellers is reopening and whether she can return. "There's literally nothing I can say or do that will make it any better," Angela adds. A report by the House of Commons Treasury Committee this week said more than one million people were losing out on coronavirus hardship payments. This was often due to unfortunate timing in starting a job or their employer's choice of timing in submitting payroll paperwork to HMRC. The government was also failing to help those who had become self-employed within the last year and those whose companies had annual trading profits of more than £50,000, it said. Freelancers and those on short-term contracts were suffering too. Emma, a 29-year-old prop maker and set designer from Redditch, Worcestershire, has been registered as self-employed since December last year. Prior to that, she worked full-time for a company for a year. She was about to start building models for a museum when coronavirus stopped the project. Her situation meant she couldn't apply for furlough or the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme payment of up to £7,500. "My only option is to get a Bounce Back Loan," Emma says, "but that means more debt, which I don't want to take on, as I've also got to pay my tax bill by next January. "It's really frustrating. Even if I get work now, there's a delay before I get paid." Emma and her boyfriend pay rent and bills of about £1,000 a month and much of her work involves providing set designs and models for summer music festivals, which have been cancelled. "There's a huge gap in payments and a lot of people are falling into it," she says. "At what's already a difficult time for everybody, it's not good for your mental health." Simon, a 62-year-old exams invigilator from south London, had his summer work cancelled. As a public sector worker who only works during exam periods, on short-term PAYE contracts, he does not qualify for furlough payments. Similar contracts are frequently used in industries such as television and theatre. "It's getting desperate for a lot of people who rely on doing this work every year," he says. "There are 15 of us in the school I work at. It's not just sitting in exams. There are lots more jobs to do than that." Simon, who has a secondary school-age son and a daughter at university, fears that younger workers in particular will lose out. "Something needs to be done to ensure that people can make a living and we don't lose many years' experience." The Treasury says its "swift and targeted" and "generous" payments during the pandemic have helped millions of workers and businesses. But the committee report that highlighted this issue, while acknowledging the government has "acted at impressive scale and pace", said it must do more to help those "locked out of support".

ब्रिटेन सरकार लगभग उन नौ लाख श्रमिकों के वेतन का भुगतान कर रही है जो कोरोनावायरस के प्रकोप के कारण अपनी नौकरी करने में असमर्थ हैं। लेकिन उन लाखों लोगों का जीवन कैसा है जो काम नहीं कर सकते हैं और जिन्हें पैसा नहीं मिल रहा है?


Clevedon Pier awarded £500,000 by the Coastal Community Fund

Summary: A Somerset pier has received a £500,000 regeneration grant from a government body set up to boost the economic development of UK coastal areas.

The Coastal Community Fund grant will help finance a new visitor centre, cafe and space for workshops and community events at Clevedon Pier. The Victorian pier was also awarded £720,000 by The Heritage Lottery Fund in December. Clevedon Pier and Heritage Trust said building work will begin later in 2013. It is hoped the work will increase visitor numbers and create six full-time jobs, with 10 further placements for volunteers.

एक समरसेट घाट को ब्रिटेन के तटीय क्षेत्रों के आर्थिक विकास को बढ़ावा देने के लिए स्थापित एक सरकारी निकाय से 500,000 पाउंड का पुनर्जनन अनुदान मिला है।


Arrest after man 'set alight in Carlisle shop'

Summary: A man has been arrested after a 50-year-old man was set on fire in a Carlisle shop.

Armed police were called after the man suffered burns to his legs at PB Sports on Wigton Road shortly before 11:00 GMT on Tuesday. A 60-year-old man from Stainton, near Penrith, has been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm with intent and possession of an offensive weapon. He has been detained for questioning by Cumbria Police. An eyewitness said the victim used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames on his body.

कार्लिस्ले की एक दुकान में 50 वर्षीय व्यक्ति को आग लगाने के बाद एक व्यक्ति को गिरफ्तार किया गया है।


Q&A: Banking inquiry row

Summary: The main political parties are at loggerheads about how best to deal with the Barclays interest rate-rigging row. Labour says it wants a full judge-led inquiry, but the government insists a specially set-up committee of MPs and peers should do the job. So, how do inquiries work and what is going to happen?

What is an inquiry? It is an attempt to reach judgements on an important public issue. In recent years, subjects as diverse as the Iraq War, the treatment of residents in caravan parks and the future of gambling in the UK have been looked at. Documentary evidence is looked at and key figures are questioned before a report is ultimately produced. It is hoped that findings will influence government policy and alter public opinion. The end result could be a change in the law or in the workings of major institutions. So, what is the latest row about? Traders at Barclays Bank and other banks manipulated the Libor and Euribor interest rates - which apply to trillions of lending between banks - from 2005 to 2009 for their own advantage. This has united political parties in calling for an investigation into what went on and what needs to be done to ensure there is no repeat of such potentially damaging behaviour. However, the coalition government wants a specially set-up parliamentary committee of MPs and peers to investigate and report. Labour, on the other hand, wants a judge-led inquiry. What is a parliamentary inquiry? There are several cross-party select committees set up by Parliament to monitor the work of government departments and make recommendations to them on what should happen in their specialist fields. Findings are reported to the Commons. The government then usually has 60 days to reply to the committee's recommendations. It is under no obligation to act on them, but it often does. What is the government proposing now? It says a committee of peers and MPs should convene to look at what went on at Barclays and report its findings back within a "few months". It would be under the leadership of senior Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie, who is the chairman of the Treasury Committee. It would have the power to question witnesses under oath. Ministers argue that a parliamentary inquiry means recommendations can be made in time to be incorporated into a bill going through Parliament which is aimed at reforming the banking system. They have promised to act on the committee's findings. The committee could also look at other issues as part of its remit to examine professional standards in the industry. Why is Labour against the idea? It wants a judge, rather than politicians, to lead the inquiry - that is what is happening in the Leveson Inquiry into media standards. Labour says this is the only way to ensure public support for any changes, as judges, not affiliated to any party, are seen as objective and therefore more likely to reach a decision free from political calculations. How do judge-led inquiries work? They are far rarer than parliamentary inquiries. A judge, or former judge, is appointed and is able to use his or her legal powers to summon witnesses and get hold of relevant documents. At the end of the investigation, they compile a report which is published, offering judgements and recommendations. The best-known of these in recent years was the Hutton Report in 2004 into the death of weapons inspector David Kelly. Judge-led inquiries can also look at wider issues, such as the ongoing Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practice and ethics of the press. How long do they take? The coalition says the work done by judges in heading inquiries is too time-consuming to deal with the immediate concerns unearthed by the Barclays scandal. It warns that any recommendations could be so slow in coming out that the law might not change until 2017, more than a decade after the interest rates-fixing scam began. But Labour says this depends on how wide-ranging the inquiry is. The very narrowly focused Hutton Inquiry took just under six months to report. The Leveson Inquiry began its formal hearings last November and is expected to report by the end of this year, although no specific date has been set. But the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, into events surrounding the deaths of 13 people in Londonderry in January 1972, cost £195m and took 12 years in total. How will the parties reach a decision? There will be separate votes on the government and Labour proposals at the end of a Commons debate on Thursday. The government has a majority in Parliament of more than 60 and is likely to win both votes. Ministers say both sides should respect the will of MPs whatever they decide to do. Attention is likely to focus on how Labour votes regarding a parliamentary inquiry and whether it chooses to oppose it outright or to withold its backing by abstaining. What if agreement is not reached? Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie, chosen to lead the parliamentary inquiry, has threatened to stand aside unless he receives cross-party support, for fear of being seen as partisan. His comments will increase pressure on the opposition to fall in line, but the Labour leadership insist that a judge-led inquiry remains the only credible option.

मुख्य राजनीतिक दल इस बात को लेकर उलझन में हैं कि बार्कलेज की ब्याज दर में धांधली के विवाद से कैसे निपटा जाए। लेबर का कहना है कि वह न्यायाधीश के नेतृत्व में एक पूर्ण जांच चाहता है, लेकिन सरकार का कहना है कि सांसदों और साथियों की एक विशेष रूप से गठित समिति को काम करना चाहिए। तो, पूछताछ कैसे काम करती है और क्या होने वाला है?


Bloodhound diary: From every angle

Summary: A British team is developing a car that will capable of reaching 1,000mph (1,610km/h). Powered by a rocket bolted to a Eurofighter-Typhoon jet engine, the Bloodhound SSC (SuperSonic Car) vehicle will mount an assault on the land speed record. Wing Commander Andy Green, world land-speed record holder, is writing a diary for the BBC News website about his experiences working on the Bloodhound project and the team's efforts to inspire national interest in science and engineering.

Following October's hugely successful rocket firing, we've been thrilled by the very high levels of international interest. In the first 48 hours, we ran over 300,000 pages on our website and over six million views on YouTube. I can't wait to see what happens when we start running live video from the car next year. We're still analysing the data from the rocket firing but it turns out that we got even more than we bargained for. The fuel grain (Hydroxyl Terminated Polybutadiene for the chemists out there; solid rubber to the rest of us) was breaking up at the end of the firing, as you can see from the before and after photos. At the heart of a live rocket firing there is a screaming inferno of gasses at over 2,500 C, and the fuel grain insulates the rocket casing from this searing heat. As the fuel grain broke down, the metal rocket casing started to overheat - and was just moments from an uncontained failure (ie explosion!) when we shut the rocket down. So does this mean that the test failed? On the contrary, this is exactly the sort of information that we needed. The test programme is designed to push the prototype rocket to its limits and to find any weak points, so that we can improve it wherever we need to. Initial analysis suggests that the failure probably occurred at the "step" in the fuel grain, between the star-shaped main body and the round tail end. Removing this step in the casting is a simple job and should fix the problem - make sure that you watch the next test to find out. If you missed October's firing, there's a great summary of it in the latest episode of Cisco Bloodhound TV. The rocket programme is now undergoing an independent review, to check progress so far and to optimise the rest of the programme. This will deliver the full hybrid capability for the 1,000mph runs in 2014, with an interim monopropellant rocket in 2013, which is already well advanced. The monopropellant system uses our Cosworth F1 engine to pump high test peroxide (concentrated H2O2) through the silver oxide catalyst pack, breaking it down into high-temperature oxygen and steam. This high-pressure gas stream is then fed directly out of the rocket nozzle (no solid rubber fuel) to generate around four to five tonnes of thrust - which should be enough to reach 800mph next year. In October I was lucky enough to see the Cosworth engine in its "natural" habitat, in the back of the HRT F1 car. As a late birthday treat, I went to the Indian Grand Prix and ended up in the pits, looking round the HRT garage and talking to Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan. It was great to find out that Bloodhound is being closely followed out in India as well - especially at HRT, as one of their Cosworth technicians had recently helped us to set up October's UK rocket test. The Bloodhound Education Programme is also being promoted in India, with the Times of India writing about Bloodhound in an education supplement that goes to 850,000 schools across this huge country. I suspect that the audience for Bloodhound is going to be vast just in this country alone, never mind the rest of the world. I was part of a fascinating meeting in October to discuss camera locations, and how we are going to get the video signal off the car and on to the web. We are planning around 16 media cameras in and around Bloodhound, ranging from (F1-style) HD cameras in the cockpit to miniature mobile-phone cameras embedded into the winglets, wheel fairings, etc. We will be able to transmit any three channels live on to the internet, so that you can follow the run from a range of views. But hang on a minute - we're in the middle of a desert, doing a 1,000mph. How are we going to get three camera feeds, plus my voice and lots of data channels, off the car and on to the internet from there? In answering this we are really grateful for the fantastic support of our product sponsors. MTN is erecting a series of 60m masts, using LTE technology (like 4G), with some help from Plextek. One of the masts is 16km out to one side of our track, to reduce what is known as "Doppler shift" - the change of frequency that occurs with speed (this is the effect that you hear when a racing car passes you and the engine note appears to drop - the same thing happens to radio signals, and the change in frequency doesn't help with data transmission). Being 16 km away, Bloodhound will also remain in one "lobe" of a mobile phone antenna during the whole run, so we can transmit continuously along the whole track without any breaks. Fit large sideways-facing aerials into the car, turn the gain (the "volume control") right up, and it's job done. So (like many other things in our "Engineering Adventure") there will be a lot to discover and some problems to solve. But that's why we're here, and difficult is what we do - and the end result, live video at 1,000mph, is going to be amazing. While the external shape of the car was fixed some months ago, work continues on improving our modelling. The aerodynamics team at Swansea, under Dr Ben Evans, are just starting to use a new computer network called High Performance Computing Wales. HPC Wales is a network of super-computers that will give us, to quote Ben, "virtually unlimited" computing resource. That will allow us to do some more accurate airbrake simulations and to refine the design. Ben is also learning more about the body shape that we are now building, looking at the differences in airflow with the EJ200 jet engine on and off, and the airflow and stability of the car at two degrees of yaw. There are any number of reasons why the car might get off line by 1-2 degrees (have a look at "Steering Bloodhound" for more detail) and we need to know that the car is safe, even if I can't keep it perfectly straight all the time. Work on the chassis continues, with the lower-rear chassis being delivered to our technical centre in Bristol. The front monocoque/cockpit moulds are complete and we've already received a fibre glass "splash" (test piece) from URT, before they get on with completing the final carbon fibre components. These splashes will be used to fit out the cockpit internally, so that when the carbon monocoque is completed, we can simply transfer all of completed components (instrument panel, seat, harness, steering wheel, pedals, etc.) into the real cockpit. Castle Precision Engineering has now completed the machining of our runway wheels, which will be fitted with high-speed aircraft tyres for our tests in the UK next summer, taking the Car up to around 200 mph (the exact speed will be determined by the brake energy capacity). If you want to come along and watch some of Bloodhound's first test runs, then join our Bloodhound Supporters' 1K Club - it's a one-off payment for the lifetime of the project, so the earlier you join, the more value you get. As if all this activity wasn't enough to keep us busy, we're also moving. The Bloodhound Technical Centre in Bristol has been a fantastic home for the past few years, but as all of the hardware and support vehicles start to arrive, and we start the assembly of Bloodhound SSC, we need somewhere bigger. Subject to contract, we should be moving by Christmas, which is just as well - we've just been promised a trailer for our Mission Control Centre and we need somewhere to keep it! The final bit of good news - and it's a huge bit - comes from our track at Hakskeen Pan in South Africa. After a truly remarkable effort, the Northern Cape team has now virtually completed the stone clearance and track preparation, including the removal and grading of the old causeway. No-one has ever attempted this scale of work on a high speed track before (except perhaps for Malcolm Campbell, back in 1928/29, also in South Africa) so it has been a huge technical challenge. With no previous experience to draw on (none of the current team were around in 1929) our Track Boss Rudi, the Northern Cape project manager Nico, and the 300+ local workers have had to develop the best methods as they went along. The final result is just brilliant - have a look at Rudi's latest desert update, "History in the Making" to see just how good. Having shifted nearly 6,000 tonnes of stones by hand, they really are creating the world's best race track for us.

एक ब्रिटिश टीम एक ऐसी कार विकसित कर रही है जो 1,000 मील प्रति घंटे (1,610 किमी/घंटा) तक पहुंचने में सक्षम होगी। एक यूरोफाइटर-टाइफून जेट इंजन को बोल्ट किए गए रॉकेट से संचालित, ब्लडहाउंड एसएससी (सुपरसोनिक कार) वाहन भूमि की गति के रिकॉर्ड पर हमला करेगा। विंग कमांडर एंडी ग्रीन, विश्व भूमि-गति रिकॉर्ड धारक, ब्लडहाउंड परियोजना पर काम करने के अपने अनुभवों और विज्ञान और इंजीनियरिंग में राष्ट्रीय हित को प्रेरित करने के लिए टीम के प्रयासों के बारे में बीबीसी न्यूज वेबसाइट के लिए एक डायरी लिख रहे हैं।


Man rescued after dinghy capsizes in Bordeaux Harbour

Summary: A man in his 70s had to be rescued from Bordeaux Harbour after the dinghy he and another man were in capsized.

A fellow boat owner picked the man up while the second man, who was also in his 70s, swam ashore. Both were examined by paramedics. Guernsey Coastguard alerted the ambulance service just after 1100 BST, while a rescue boat was put on standby. Both men were unharmed but an Ambulance and Rescue spokeswoman warned "life jackets really are a must". She said: "The number of responses to water related incidents increases as the weather gets warmer."

70 के दशक में एक व्यक्ति को बोर्डो हार्बर से बचाना पड़ा क्योंकि वह और एक अन्य व्यक्ति डूबे हुए थे।


Bristol film-maker works with police to improve stop and search

Summary: Self-taught film-maker Michael Jenkins left school at 16. After long spells of unemployment, he approached the Princes Trust for a loan and a mentor. Now one of his films is helping to improve the way Avon and Somerset Police use stop and search powers.

By Caroline Le MarechalBBC News, Bristol Michael Jenkins, now 27, said during his life, he had been stopped and searched about 20 times. One time he was stopped three times in the same week, which he said "made him hate the police". It made him an ideal candidate to make a 20-minute documentary exploring the impact of stop and search on communities. But, Mr Jenkins said, he even faced suspicions while making the film - a sequence that is included in the final version. It happened outside Southmead police station after he had just interviewed Superintendent Mike Prior, the force's stop search lead at the time. Mr Jenkins and his colleague were approached by an officer who stopped them and then asked them to wait while he confirmed their story. He said: "I was doing nothing wrong. It showed me how much I've internalised being stopped by the police. The barrier is still there - even though I was working with them." Mr Prior said the film had received "great feedback" and the force was now "on track" to introduce body cameras to record stop and searches from this month. He said: "The film is about challenging people's perception of stop and search and the reality of it - both are equally as important. "It's vital that we listen and hear the concerns that people have and that is what the film is all about." In May, six months after the release of the film, the force said it would be inviting residents to review its progress on how it uses stop and search powers. Where did it begin for Michael Jenkins? After he dropped out of college, he began making "basic music videos" for local rap groups and "film just clicked". When his camera broke and he could not afford the £900 needed to fix it, he approached the Princes Trust. "I looked into it and that got me into thinking about business. It took me a long time, almost a year as the Princes Trust course was full," he said. And once on the course, it was not plain sailing. He was teamed up with a mentor - self-confessed "old school" retired banker Alan Piper - who was not in the least impressed when Michael Jenkins arrived ten minutes late for their first meeting. On Mr Piper's advice, Mr Jenkins bought a desk diary and was never late again. Soon afterwards, he set up his company - 8th Sense Media - making films that set out to challenge negative stereotypes. And in 2012, the Princes Trust loaned him about £2,300 to buy a camera. Mr Piper, who has mentored more than 600 people, said: "Michael stands out. He is confident but not arrogant and a storyteller with a social conscience. "The great thing about Michael is that he listened. In between meetings he had tackled whatever we had discussed - sometimes challenging, sometimes easy. "I asked him 'what kind of a filmmaker do you want to be remembered for?' and that will help you and guide you over which jobs you take on and what kind of jobs you don't take on." Michael Jenkins' latest film Black Soldier, White Army - shown at Bristol's Afrika Eye film festival in November - is about a black veteran soldier who served in Northern Ireland. Other current projects include Darkie Day, which he started filming on 26 December. The film is about a Boxing Day tradition in Padstow in Cornwall where local people "black up", similar to minstrels. Mr Jenkins says he wanted to find out whether it was a "harmless English folk tradition or racism." He said: "Filming was very interesting and it gave me a mixture of emotions. "Nonetheless, it has inspired me to follow up on contacts I have made to further investigate this tradition and gain a better understanding."

स्व-शिक्षित फिल्म निर्माता माइकल जेनकिंस ने 16 साल की उम्र में स्कूल छोड़ दिया। लंबे समय तक बेरोज़गारी के बाद, उन्होंने ऋण और एक सलाहकार के लिए प्रिंसेस ट्रस्ट से संपर्क किया। अब उनकी एक फिल्म एवन और समरसेट पुलिस द्वारा रोक और खोज शक्तियों का उपयोग करने के तरीके को बेहतर बनाने में मदद कर रही है।


The surgeon who said nipples were a 'faff'

Summary: Life as a disabled person can sometimes be quite different and difficult, but amid awkwardness there is humour. The following is an edited version of a sketch by Janine Hammond, whose life changed after two rounds of triple negative breast cancer. She performed this true story for the BBC at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2019 where the theme was Lost and Found.

I've got a confession to make - I've lost my nipples. Very careless. Very irresponsible of me. And it's really annoying because nipples are great. They feed your babies. They're little pleasure domes and they warn you when you need to wear a coat. Personally, I prefer the whole thing - the fleshy bit plus the nipple. The traditional combo. Confession number two - I've lost both of my breasts to cancer. I haven't got prosthetic breasts or implants, instead I've got what they call flaps - Tram flap reconstructions. As an ex-nurse I know the medical world loves acronyms - we haven't got time to say the big words. Tram stands for Trans rectus abdominis muscle. Basically, everyone has two of these and they form part of your six-pack. Those two muscles have now been moved from my abdomen up into my chest. Weird, I know. The operation requires two surgical teams. The top team take your breast off, including the cancer. Then the other team split you from hip-to-hip and take the whole front flap of your abdomen off and then basically pull the muscles up, with all their blood supply and nerve endings, and use the fat and tissue to make new breasts. They also make you a lovely new belly button. It's amazing. The first time I had breast cancer was in 1997. I was 32, my kids were little and I'd just started a new job, but life's like that, isn't it? In 2012, I found myself back in the "bad news room" at the hospital. They don't call it that, but a lot of cancer centres have a room that's less clinical than others with comfy sofas and nice pictures on the walls. I knew what was coming. Sure enough a surgeon bounded in: "It's back!" he said. "Thanks mate," I thought. He said he'd remove both breasts and do the TRAM reconstruction in one, 12-hour operation. "What about nipples?" I asked. "Nipples? Oh, they're a faff," replied the surgeon. "A faff?" I said. "So you're going to spend 12 hours slicing and dicing me like the Bride of Chucky - and then you put me together and say nipples are a faff?" "Well I can do them, but you know..." Storytelling Live: Lost and Found Reece was one of seven people with a disability or mental health problem to perform a story on the theme of lost and found as part of BBC Ouch's storytelling event at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe - hosted by Chris McCausland. You can watch the programme on BBC iPlayer. Here is another story from the event that you might like: The female registrar took me aside. "The thing with the nipples is that the male surgeons don't always appreciate how women might feel about the new exaggerated ones they create," she said. "They don't tend to warn you that they'll really stick out to begin with, to allow for when they flatten out a couple of years later. I'm not sure how you'd feel about always being... pointy." "Pointy?" I thought. "Oh God, I can't be pointy." I wondered about having a 3D tattoo. My local tattoo artist does a really good job but only has one big workroom - can you imagine the next client arriving as you're having a new nipple tattooed? So, the registrar gave me some prosthetic nipples instead. You literally just stick them on. I have never worn them... on my breasts. What if they came unstuck and you're talking to someone and they're like, "Oh you've got a nipple on your neck." That would be awful. The only time I've ever worn my nipples is in the middle of my forehead to do my David Bowie circa Ziggy Stardust impression to cheer myself up. The recovery from the operation took a few months and I was left with a few weird issues. It feels like I'm wearing a corset all the time and, because the muscles in my chest have been moved up into my breasts, I can't sit up if you lie me flat. I also had a different type of chemo this time - FEC. Another initialism, made up of a variety of drugs - 5FU, epirubicin, cyclophosphamide. Fun fact. Epirubicin changes the colour of your urine. It only lasts for about 48 hours but it goes from a deep Portuguese Rose to a pale Provencal. It's great fun for family and friends. As my wounds started to heal, I noticed that my right breast was bigger than my left. The surgeon agreed so I had an operation to amend the right side. Then the left breast was bigger than the right. So I had that amended too. But re-creating nipples was still considered a faff. To help with the weird nerve and joint pains I also experienced, the pain clinic suggested mindfulness. I tried, but meditating with 10 other people in what was effectively a storeroom just didn't work for me, so I started writing instead and got a place on a playwrights programme. I wrote a monologue about a woman with breast cancer who'd had my operation but she was single and had to reveal herself every time she started a relationship. The play travelled a bit and even raised money for cancer research which I'm very happy about. What I'm not happy about are my nipples. As part of the performance, my lovely actress puts a nipple in the middle of her forehead to do her best Ziggy Stardust. But it turns out theatres don't stock prosthetic nipples. So my very own nipples get supplied to the actresses. It's meant a very exciting chapter in my life because I now get emails saying: "Janine, please can I have your nipples?" I rather like to open those emails on a packed train when I know someone is reading over my shoulder. To be honest, I'm getting a bit resentful of them. My nipples are appearing in theatres without me. They're having a life of their own. So when I said at the start: "I've lost my nipples". I have. I've lost them - first to cancer - and then to the fickle world of show business. From Storytelling Live 2018, you may also like to read: For more Disability News, follow BBC Ouch on Twitter and Facebook, and subscribe to the podcast.

एक विकलांग व्यक्ति के रूप में जीवन कभी-कभी काफी अलग और कठिन हो सकता है, लेकिन अजीबता के बीच हास्य है। निम्नलिखित जेनिन हैमंड के एक स्केच का एक संपादित संस्करण है, जिसका जीवन ट्रिपल नकारात्मक स्तन कैंसर के दो दौर के बाद बदल गया। उन्होंने 2019 में एडिनबर्ग फ्रिंज में बीबीसी के लिए इस सच्ची कहानी का प्रदर्शन किया, जहां विषय था लॉस्ट एंड फाउंड।


Google Chrome OS computers updated with faster processors

Summary: Google has announced new computers running on its Chrome operating system.

By Leo KelionTechnology reporter The Samsung-manufactured laptop and desktop PCs include processors based on Intel's Sandy Bridge technology, addressing criticism that the launch models were underpowered. Chrome-based computers run all their applications through the firm's web browser and store their files online. Google has not released sales numbers for the previous range, but analysts said demand had been very low. Tech consultants IDC said that 50,000 Chromebooks had shipped in the US in the first three months of the year in a market that had absorbed about 10 million laptops over the same period. An earlier study by Gartner suggested there would be fewer than 300,000 Chromebooks sold worldwide this year. Google Drive Google says software updates had helped boost the computers' speed so that they ran 2.5 to 3.5 times faster than before. Improvements include greater use of the machines' GPUs (graphic processing units) and tweaks to ensure the system runs Javascript more efficiently. An upcoming software release will also enable the firm's Google Drive cloud storage service to act as the computers' file system, making it easier for users to manage their documents. It will also allow users to edit Google Documents files when offline. The files will subsequently be synchronised when a network connection is restored tackling complaints that the machines were of limited use when not on the internet. The search giant's decision to build in a limited 16 gigabyte hard drive has helped it keep costs relatively low. The Chromebook laptop is marketed for $449/£379 while the desktop Chromebox is $329/£279. Low maintenance The firm highlights the fact that the devices need "zero administration" because files are stored in the cloud, system updates are controlled by Google and the computers have virus protection built-in. Linus Upson, Google's vice president of engineering, told the BBC that this had already encouraged more than 500 schools across 41 US states to "deploy" Chromebooks to their students. He said he hoped businesses would now follow. "From a security standpoint just about every major corporation in the world is under continuous attack by various governments around the world as well as criminal enterprises," he said "Probably the single most important thing companies can do to secure their network is to secure the PCs that their employees use because that's normally the way in. "Everything from a phishing email saying 'hey install this thing' to exploiting flaws in browsers or plug-ins. At Google we see deploying Chromebooks broadly as being one of the best ways we can protect our user data." He admitted that the computers were not suitable for people wanting to use traditional software packages such as Photoshop and Microsoft Office. But he suggested such programs were "legacy" products that would "decline over time" as users opted for the type of browser-based software available via the Chrome Webstore. Mixed reactions David Daoud, personal computing research director at IDC, is sceptical about the platform's prospects. "The issue with Chromebook is the fact that it is in a sort of grey zone," he said. "It has neither the power of a laptop in the productivity world, nor the appeal of an iPad or an Android tablet. "It is confined to a web environment that may not be so appealing in emerging economies where the wireless infrastructure may be limited. In such environments, characterised by tight budgets, consumers do not see why they would spend some $400 on a system that does not fully deliver on a more comprehensive user experience." But Frank Gillett, principal analyst at Forrester Research, said he believed there was a niche for the machines: first-time users looking for a low-cost simple device. "It's cheap, good enough for most of the things you want to do when you're starting out and it's just less complicated to figure out than alternatives out there," he told the BBC. "This is the first interesting version of the product - the launch models were more proof of concept. The Google Drive capability clears the bar to making Chrome-based computers useful to enough of the population to keep it going." Google says the computers will go on sale in the US and UK, adding that devices would come to other European markets "soon".

गूगल ने अपने क्रोम ऑपरेटिंग सिस्टम पर चलने वाले नए कंप्यूटरों की घोषणा की है।


Has Fyre Festival burned influencers?

Summary: "Fyre was basically like Instagram coming to life."

By Zoe KleinmanTechnology reporter, BBC News Or at least, that was the idea, says DJ/producer Jillionaire in the new Netflix documentary Fyre: The Greatest Party that Never Happened. The organisers spent eye-watering sums on an extravagant launch campaign with 10 of the world's top supermodels sharing gorgeous promotional pictures and videos of themselves partying in luxurious style on a sun-drenched island in the Bahamas. Kendall Jenner was reportedly paid $250,000 (£193,000) for one single Instagram post announcing the launch of ticket sales and offering her followers a discount code. Despite the "luxury" tickets costing thousands of dollars, the event sold out - many snapped up by social media influencers keen to document their exclusive experience, many in exchange for free accommodation. The festival was supposed to run annually for five years. However, just like Instagram, away from the filters and the supermodels, the reality turned out to be somewhat different. The "private jet" in which the guests were supposed to arrive, turned out to be an old rebranded aeroplane. The luxury accommodation consisted of rain-drenched tents, and the gourmet cuisine was a cheese sandwich. The event never took place. The organiser, Billy McFarland, is now in prison for fraud. Bella Hadid, one of the models who took part in the promotions, later apologised to her followers and said she had "trusted" the event would be "amazing and memorable". Kendall Jenner deleted her post. Two new documentaries about the luxury event that never was - one by Netflix, the other by US streamer Hulu - have thrown a spotlight on the influencers and celebrities who promoted it. You'd be forgiven for thinking this all sounds like extremely bad news for the influencer industry. But you'd be underestimating their Teflon-like resilience in the face of adversity. Rohan Midha, managing director of the PMYB influencer agency, says that while Fyre itself was a disaster, the marketing choices behind it were not. "It just shows how powerful influencers can be," he told the BBC. On the subject of Fyre, he agrees that while the sheer size of the influencer campaign was "unusual", the results were not. "Influencers can reproduce the largest return on investment," he says. "That's across the board." Werner Geyser, founder of the Influencer Marketing Hub, agrees. He says since the release of the documentaries his web traffic has spiked as curiosity in the industry has increased. "If anything [the Fyre Festival documentary] was showing utilising influencer marketing was part of its success in terms of marketing the event," he says. "It's all publicity at the end of the day. I think brand managers and influencers will be more cautious and that can only be a good thing." Mr Geyser thinks the documentaries will emphasise the importance of regulation - the responsibility of flagging promoted content using hashtags like #ad, #spon and #sponsored. In 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the US warned celebrities and influencers that they must be clear about when a post has been paid for - but not all of them do. "Trust is lost when you are selling something that you were paid for but didn't declare," says Mr Geyser. "If you can say something is sponsored [the consumer] can take it with a pinch of salt." But do they? If you doubt the power of a stranger on social media to tell large numbers of people what to do - have a think about this. "This month we've seen people being influenced by an egg," says Instagram consultant Danny Coy, referring to a picture of an egg which convinced more than 40m people to "like" it on Instagram. Mr Coy, whose photography account on Instagram has 157,000 followers, is a former influencer himself. "What's been happening for a while is the rise of the micro-influencer - people who have a much more organic following, less than 10,000, but they are really niche and targeted," he says. "If you want to geo-locate or target certain areas, brands would rather team up with 10 micro-influencers than one big one." The firm Neoreach offers data on influencer industry growth. According to its research and forecasts: One expert who is not "liking" the influencer phenomenon is Dr Mariann Hardey, associate professor in marketing at Durham University. "I would counter that the influencer industry is not successful," she says. "It appears successful as an extension of aggressive marketing communications and PR methods, but as a standalone, self-sustaining and ethical industry it is far from successful." Dr Hardey points out a growing backlash over some influencer-endorsed products such as weight-loss tea amid reports that it can, in some cases, be addictive and even dangerous. "The backlash against these kinds of products is highly visible - in some cases known more than the influencers involved with the promotion," she says. This was raised by the actress Jameela Jamil, who started the high profile "I Weigh" campaign, to counter promotional weight loss messages spread by influencers, and to encourage more positive body image. Dr Hardey believes that influencers are not as powerful as they may consider themselves to be. "Consumers are smart," she says. "Overall, relying solely on influencers and the commercial viability of platforms such as Instagram [in a campaign] is precarious at best." That lesson was learned the hard way by those involved in the Fyre Festival. "A couple of powerful models posting an orange tile is what essentially built this entire festival," reflects Mick Purzycki, who worked on the festival, in the Netflix documentary. "And then one kid with probably 400 followers posted a picture of cheese on toast and that trended and essentially ripped down the festival."

"फेयर मूल रूप से इंस्टाग्राम के जीवंत होने जैसा था।"


The bike riding stars from Wales before Geraint Thomas

Summary: After his 2018 Tour de France win, Geraint Thomas has sealed his place in history. But Wales' cycling success dates back a lot further. Not long after the invention of the chain-powered bicycle, the world's finest cyclists came from a small village in the Cynon Valley.

By Matthew MurrayBBC News In the 1890s, Aberaman was perhaps best known for its colliery. But some of the village's inhabitants put the village on the map for different reasons. Quick to master cycling after a chain was added to the standard bicycle design in 1884, Arthur Linton and Jimmy Michael became international stars. They travelled the globe, smashing records at a time when the sport of cycling was in its infancy. More than 100 years later, their stories are largely forgotten. Arthur Linton was Wales' first cycling trailblazer. He was not born in Aberaman, but moved there with his family from Somerset aged three. At the start of his cycling career, his main competitors were his brothers, Samuel and Tom. "Back at the end of 19th Century there was no such thing as world championships or the Tour de France," historian Stephen Cooke says. "But Arthur Linton was so fast that he became known as the number one. Even ahead of the French cyclists, who were the best in the world at the time." Soon after Linton rose to prominence, his protégé started to challenge him. Jimmy Michael began cycling in order to carry out deliveries for his family's butchery business. At just over 5 ft tall, some considered him too short to make an impact in the sport, but he earned himself a reputation as boy wonder in the cycling world. "Jimmy Michael is renowned as the greatest cyclist ever," Mr Cooke added. "He really was the superstar of his time. He made a real name for himself especially in America, where he was paid exceptional money to take part in exhibitions. "But Jimmy will never fill the place of Arthur. Arthur's genial way and excellent riding at home and abroad made him the favourite, of Frenchmen and Englishmen alike, and adored in Wales." Despite dazzling sporting achievements, both Linton and Michael died in their twenties. A blue plaque at Linton's former home shows he died at 28 of typhoid fever brought on by over-exertion. His untimely death in 1896 was all the more shocking as he had just won the 360-mile (580km) Bordeaux to Paris race, shaving three hours off the previous record. Some believe his reputation was sullied by speculation he was under the influence of strychnine, used then as a performance-enhancing drug, at the time of his death. Cyclist Dai Sankey, 81, from Aberdare, believes these rumours are the reason Linton's achievements are not more widely celebrated. "For his achievements you'd think there would be a statue," he said. "He was the best in the world. But there's nothing. Linton and Michael have been forgotten. "Cycling has never got the recognition in this country it deserves." Perhaps, with Geraint Thomas's success, that might be about to change.

2018 की टूर डी फ्रांस जीत के बाद, गेरेंट थॉमस ने इतिहास में अपनी जगह पक्की कर ली है। लेकिन वेल्स की साइकिल चलाने की सफलता बहुत पहले की है। श्रृंखला-संचालित साइकिल के आविष्कार के कुछ ही समय बाद, दुनिया के बेहतरीन साइकिल चालक सिनन घाटी के एक छोटे से गाँव से आए थे।


Doctor Who: How the dyspraxic assistant became my hero

Summary: Ever since the 2005 series reboot, I've been hooked on Who. So, I was surprised to find my highlight of the opening episode of the new series was nothing to do with the latest Doctor's debut but involved a relatively minor character falling off a bike.

By Tom GerkenBBC UGC & Social News More than 20 years ago, I was diagnosed with dyspraxia. And Sunday night was the first time I have ever come across a fictional character portraying my disability. The episode has received broadly positive reviews, most focusing on the spectacular performance of the first female Doctor, Jodie Whittaker. But for me it acquired real resonance when Tosin Cole was introduced as Ryan, a young man with dyspraxia. Doctors will tell you dyspraxia is a "developmental co-ordination disorder" but this can cover a wide range. Someone with dyspraxia might have problems with fine motor skills, such as hand-writing and typing. I want to ride my bicycle Others, including me, might struggle with memory, planning and organisation, and particularly with learning skills involving coordination - catching a ball or riding a bike. Which is where Doctor Who comes in. Soon after we meet Ryan, he too is finding it impossible to keep his balance on a bicycle. Let's be clear - just because you have dyspraxia, it doesn't mean you will never ride a bike. It may simply take longer to learn than it would for someone else. In some cases, a lot longer. My brother - who also has dyspraxia - was eventually able to learn how to ride, while I never was. The frustration that comes with not being able to learn at a normal pace can be so affecting that you give up learning a skill altogether. I still can't ride a bike. I don't think I'll ever be able to. In Doctor Who, Ryan becomes angry at his failures as he relentlessly falls off his bicycle. Later in the episode, he attempts to channel his frustration and learn again - yet he still fails. It cannot be overstated how happy I was at this moment. I didn't want Ryan to suddenly, magically succeed. I wanted him to keep failing. Don't call him inspirational Dyspraxia doesn't have an overnight fix. You can't will yourself to not be disabled anymore. It's always there, always present, always making things harder than they should be. I don't want to see people using the word "inspirational" to describe him. He's not an inspiration. He's a normal guy, who happens to have a disability. But there's something else to the representation of dyspraxia in Doctor Who that I really, really like. Ryan shies away from the word "dyspraxia" when we first see him. In fact, the word isn't used at all in the episode until about 15 minutes in, when Ryan's Gran explains his disability to another character. I was so impressed to see that feeling of anxiety so accurately represented on television by this deliberate omission. I too hate saying that word - it requires so much explanation. It's much easier to smirk and refer to myself as clumsy when I lose my balance while walking, or claim I'm drunk after a single drink. It's easier to just not mention my disability and hope people don't notice. The exact number of people with dyspraxia, or indeed dyslexia, in the UK remains unknown. A 2013 report from the Dyspraxia Foundation said 5-10% of people in the UK "have some symptoms of dyspraxia", while the NHS website estimates that 10% of people in the UK "have some degree of dyslexia". Harry Potter Yet despite the similar figures, dyspraxia is wildly under-represented in the media compared with its better-known cousin. I can think of a number of fictional characters with dyslexia: But dyspraxia, in the world of stage and screen at least, remains invisible. Sure, there are plenty of characters out there with dyspraxic traits. Take the Harry Potter series for example. Both Neville Longbottom and Nymphadora Tonks exhibit clumsiness and lose their balance but the word "dyspraxia" is never used - though coincidentally, Daniel Radcliffe, who portrays Potter in the films, does have the disability. Doctor Who's new sidekick may be the first ever fictional character in mainstream media to carry the dyspraxic label. I've waited more than 20 years for this. All I can say is, it's about time.

2005 की श्रृंखला के रीबूट के बाद से, मैं हू से जुड़ा हुआ हूँ। इसलिए, मुझे यह जानकर आश्चर्य हुआ कि नई श्रृंखला के शुरुआती एपिसोड का मेरा मुख्य आकर्षण नवीनतम डॉक्टर की शुरुआत से कोई लेना-देना नहीं था, लेकिन इसमें एक अपेक्षाकृत छोटा चरित्र शामिल था जो बाइक से गिर गया था।


How the Babri mosque destruction shaped India

Summary: On this day, 25 years ago, right-wing Hindu mobs razed to the ground the 16th Century Babri mosque, claiming that it was built on the site of a temple destroyed by Muslim rulers. The BBC's former India correspondent, Mark Tully, traces the rise of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since that event.

On 6 December 1992, in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya, I saw a historic mosque, standing on ground believed to be the birthplace of the god Rama, demolished by riotous Hindu nationalists. It was the culmination of a six-year campaign spearheaded by the BJP to destroy the mosque and replace it with a temple. A crowd of around 150,000 that had assembled there suddenly surged forward, broke through the police cordons defending the mosque, swarmed over the building and started tearing it down. As I watched the last cordon collapse and the police walk away with their wicker shields held above their heads for protection from the stones raining down on them, with an officer pushing his men aside to get out first, I realised I was witnessing a historic event - the most significant triumph for Hindu nationalism since independence and the gravest setback to secularism. Political scientist Zoya Hasan has called the demolition of the mosque "the most blatant act of defiance of law in modern India". She sees it as "a watershed for Indian nationhood". But on the evening of the destruction, Ram Dutt Tripathi, the BBC's correspondent in Uttar Pradesh, the state in which Ayodhya is situated, was sanguine. He said the Hindu nationalists had "killed the hen which laid the golden egg" by demolishing the mosque, arguing that for them the presence of the mosque on what they believed was Rama's birthplace was the emotive issue, not the desire to build a temple there. He maintained that the fervour of the Ram Temple movement would decline now that the mosque was no longer there. At first it seemed that Ram Dutt had got it wrong. Blood was shed in Hindu-Muslim riots in different parts of India. The worst riots were in Mumbai, where an estimated 900 people were killed and the police were accused of siding with Hindus. But the riots subsided and the campaign to build a temple on the site of the mosque in Ayodhya lost momentum. The BJP had hoped the demolition of the mosque would consolidate Hindu votes in its favour but the party did not succeed in forming governments in three states where assembly elections were held in 1993. One of the states was Uttar Pradesh. In the three general elections held in the second half of the nineties, the BJP did gain steadily and, in 1999, it was able to form a stable coalition government. But the BJP's rise to power in the centre for the first time owed a great deal to the turmoil in its main opposition, the Congress party. The former Congress PM, Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated in 1991, leaving the party without a leader from the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, which had held it together since independence. The only possible candidate, Rajiv's apolitical, Italian-born widow, Sonia, refused to become involved in politics. The elderly, long-serving minister in the central government, PV Narasimha Rao, was chosen to head a minority government in 1991. His failure to protect the mosque was used by his rivals to undermine him by alleging that he was a Hindu nationalist rather than a secular Congress man, and the party was divided and in disarray when the time came to fight the 1996 election. But in 1999, when the BJP did form a stable coalition, neither Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee nor his powerful number two, Lal Krishna Advani, believed Ayodhya had created such a large Hindu vote that they could set about implementing their party's Hindu nationalist, or Hindutva, agenda, and reviving the Ayodhya temple issue. They believed the BJP still needed to be centrist, rather than a right-wing nationalist party, if their coalition was to hold together and get enough support from diverse sections of the population to win the next election. Mr Advani once said to me: "Hinduism is so varied you can't actually appeal to Hindus in the name of religion." Many in the BJP believe the party would not have lost the 2004 election if they had consolidated Hindu votes under the Hindu nationalism banner. But that defeat was mainly due to the BJP's faulty choice of allies and Sonia Gandhi managing to weld the Congress party together again and breathe new life into it when she agreed to take over the leadership. Under her, Congress governed for 10 years. Perhaps the Ayodhya incident, significant though it was, didn't create a Hindu vote that changed the political landscape of India. Maybe that watershed has now been reached with the victory of the BJP in the 2014 election - it gave the party its first absolute majority in parliament and a prime minister (Narendra Modi) who hasn't hesitated to actively promote Hindu nationalism and has started to implement his party's Hindutva agenda. For instance, there is his government's ban on buying cows for slaughter in animal markets, there is the promotion of Hindi, and there are the appointments of Hindutva sympathisers to top posts in educational and cultural organisations. Although Mr Modi constantly proclaims his aim is to develop India for all Indians, Muslims are barely represented in BJP governments in the centre and in the states. The chief minister Mr Modi has selected to govern India's most populous and politically important state, Uttar Pradesh, is renowned for his hostility to Muslims. But Mr Modi was not elected primarily on a Hindu vote. The main plank of his election campaign was the promise to develop and change India. The success of that campaign owes a lot to the fact that the Congress was back in disarray. There are already signs that he will moderate his ban on cow slaughter because of the effect it is having on the farmers' vote. Hinduism remains a very varied religion and India is a very diverse country with an ancient, pluralist tradition. So it's still not clear in my mind that Mr Modi will reach or even intends to reach the watershed, which would mark the end of secular India and the creation of a Hindu nation.

इस दिन, 25 साल पहले, दक्षिणपंथी हिंदू भीड़ ने 16वीं शताब्दी की बाबरी मस्जिद को जमीन पर गिरा दिया, यह दावा करते हुए कि इसे मुस्लिम शासकों द्वारा नष्ट किए गए मंदिर के स्थान पर बनाया गया था। बीबीसी के पूर्व भारतीय संवाददाता, मार्क टली, उस घटना के बाद से सत्तारूढ़ हिंदू राष्ट्रवादी भारतीय जनता पार्टी (भाजपा) के उदय का पता लगाते हैं।


Woman, 19, charged over Isle of Wight car and bus crash death

Summary: A 19-year-old woman has been charged a year after a woman was killed and 22 people were injured in a crash involving two cars and a bus.

The crash happened on the A3054 near Newport on the Isle of Wight on 14 April 2019. The woman who died, who was in her 60s, was travelling in a Fiat Bravo. Yaashmi Ravikumar has been charged with death by dangerous driving and four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. Ms Ravikumar, of Buller Road, Laindon, Essex, is due to appear at Isle of Wight Crown Court on 15 May. Related Internet Links HM Courts & Tribunals Service

दो कारों और एक बस की दुर्घटना में एक महिला की मौत और 22 लोगों के घायल होने के एक साल बाद एक 19 वर्षीय महिला पर आरोप लगाया गया है।


Wallonia: Eight things you didn't know about Belgium's French-speaking region

Summary: Has Wallonia ever enjoyed such a high profile?

Many who had previously ignored its existence are now frantically googling the Belgian region of 3.6 million after it singlehandedly blocked an EU trade deal with Canada - one that every national government in the bloc wanted ratified. But it is not the first time in history that the French-speaking area has punched well above its weight. Here are eight things you probably didn't know about it. Glorious industrial past During the heyday of the industrial revolution, Wallonia became the second most industrialised area in the world after Britain, thanks to its deposits of coal and iron, and was Belgium's richer half. Since then, however, the tables have turned. Wallonia's smokestack industries collapsed as Flanders developed a dynamic services economy and the Flemish GDP roared ahead. The Walloons are now the poor relations. Makes M4 assault rifle Wallonia does, though, produce a lot of weapons and medication. It is home to FN Herstal, which makes the M4 assault rifle and is owned by the Wallonia government. It is also home to pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline. So there is some economic diversity but - as the Financial Times newspaper notes - a diet of bullets and pills is not altogether healthy. Magritte came from there Wallonia's most famous artist is Rene Magritte, who hailed from Lessines. Magritte, whose mother committed suicide when he was young, wore a trademark bowler hat and painted in his lounge. His surrealist paintings have inspired pop and conceptual art, the cover of a Rolling Stones record, a video by Oasis, and a song by Paul Simon. One of his paintings sold for $11.5m (about £9.4m) in New York in 2002 and there is a museum dedicated to his work in Brussels. Lost Magritte mystery 'jigsaw puzzle' piece uncovered in Norwich ...and the creator of detective Maigret Georges Simenon was a prolific author who wrote hundreds of novels, including 75 that featured his best known character, Paris detective Commissaire Maigret, He was born in Liege and worked on the city newspaper before becoming an author. He also achieved notoriety in 1977 for claiming to have slept with 10,000 women since the age of 13. Contains 'ugliest city' The biggest city in Wallonia, Charleroi is known for its grim post-industrial decay and was voted the ugliest city in the world in a Dutch newspaper survey. It also has a reputation for corruption. In fact it's so bad it's good. Enterprising locals offer an "urban safari" through the blight, taking visitors to Belgium's "most depressing street" and stopping by the home of notorious serial killer Marc Dutroux. Graffiti is ubiquitous and the city has drawn comparisons with Berlin and even Brooklyn as it looks to achieve its own rise from the ruins. Home of French fries? It's controversial, but there is a theory that French fries may actually be from Belgium. It is said that US soldiers stationed in Belgium during World War Two may have called them French fries because the locals were speaking French. The Spanish introduced potatoes to Europe in the 15th Century and there is some evidence that the first potatoes were fried in the 17th Century between Liege and Dinant in Wallonia. It is thought that people in the area were fond of frying small fish from the River Meuse and when the river froze over one year they began frying strips of potato instead. Audrey Hepburn is 'Wallonian' A tenuous claim, but not one that the Wallonian authorities are giving up on. Iconic actress Hepburn was born in Brussels in 1929 and spent her childhood between Belgium, England and the Netherlands. Wallonia is linked to Brussels through the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, a political entity that has responsibilities in the areas of culture, education and sport. As a result, the Brussels-Wallonia Tourist Board and Wallonia's representative office in the UK are happy to refer to her as one of their own. Half 'want to be French' Unlike the Flemish, the Walloons do not consider themselves a nation or desire an independent state - and this isn't just due to their economic weakness. A poll found that only a tiny minority of Walloons wanted Belgium to break up and if secession was forced on them, about half wanted to be attached to France. Some have even called for such a move, particularly in the city of Liege, a free principality for 800 years before joining Belgium. People there have strong cultural ties to the "chtis", as people from northern France are known. "A mere two centuries of Belgium have not severed those bonds," one Liege resident told the BBC.

क्या वाल्लोनिया ने कभी इतनी उच्च प्रोफ़ाइल का आनंद लिया है?


Godzilla film 'harks back to Jaws and Alien'

Summary: Godzilla director Gareth Edwards has said that despite a huge budget, his monster movie harks back to the '70s and '80s before digital technology existed, with just "brief glimpses" of the creature.

By Helen BushbyBBC entertainment and arts reporter He said his version was underpinned by references to high-suspense films like Ridley Scott's Alien and Steven Spielberg's Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, fuelled by a "sense of anticipation". "Because [Scott and Spielberg] couldn't show the creature constantly, the first half of the movie would be these brief glimpses... you got so many chills and goosebumps - I miss that style of storytelling," he said. "I felt that in modern cinema it's so easy to just throw everything at the screen constantly." Godzilla, which had a reported budget of $160m (£95m) and stars Bryan Cranston, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ken Watanabe, Elizabeth Olsen, Sally Hawkins and Juliette Binoche, has had mixed reviews. Variety said the focus on the human characters left "scarcely enough screen time for the monster itself" while The Independent added Godzilla "still looks as if he has just escaped from a low budget Ray Harryhausen movie, shooting in somebody's garden nearby". The Telegraph described it as a "summer blockbuster that's not just thrilling, but orchestrates its thrills with such rare diligence, you want to yelp with glee". The original Godzilla film, made in Japan in 1954, was a metaphor for the devastation which followed the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by US forces at the end of World War Two, and then 1954's H-bomb testing in the Pacific. Then, Godzilla was played by a man in a reptile suit who caused chaos by trampling on a miniaturised version of Tokyo. Multi-tasking director The 2014 film, which coincides with Godzilla's 60th birthday, follows the critically panned 1998 version directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Matthew Broderick. There is a degree of pressure on Edwards to get it right this time. Visual effects specialist Edwards, 38, was chosen for Godzilla after he blew critics away with his 2010 debut movie Monsters, made on a micro-budget of about £500,000 and edited at his London home. Having directed, written and orchestrated the special effects, Edwards won best director at the 2011 British Independent Film Awards. Three years later and armed with a budget of millions, Edwards said despite hankering to make "just one" Godzilla special effect shot, he "didn't even get a spare five minutes". "But the beauty of it is that I was surrounded with the best of the best," he said. "The visual effects supervisor was Jim Rygiel who did The Lord of the Rings and we also had John Dykstra, who did the original Star Wars movie. "Working with genuine heroes of mine, handing your baby over to people who can look after it way better than you can, is an easy thing," he added, although he admitted "this film is the hardest thing I've ever had to do". Edwards employed the skills of actor Andy Serkis - who has previously used performance capture to create characters such as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films and King Kong - to help create Godzilla's movements on screen. The director said Serkis "helped shape the title character's emotional arc" and was key for Godzilla's facial expressions. The director and his team also studied the faces of dogs and bears while developing the monster's head, which incorporated "the nobility of an eagle". Among the human characters battling the monsters and the elements is Breaking Bad TV star Cranston, who plays a nuclear scientist and whistleblower. After his Emmy and Golden Globe-winning performance in the TV drama, he said he knew his next role would be "compared" and wanted it to be "of extremely high quality as far as the writing is concerned". Godzilla ticked all the boxes for him and he said he liked the film's emotional content and focus on relationships and family. "When the offer came in to do Godzilla, at first I thought 'Oh, I probably shouldn't do it, no', and my agent said: 'You might want to take a look at this because it's very different'. "I was like 'Wow, this is fantastic', and then you have this monster movie and I loved Godzilla - he was my favourite monster. I like to keep surprising people." Taylor-Johnson, who plays his army lieutenant son who battles to return to his family, also liked the focus on relationships. "I liked the fact that he was a father and a husband and [the film] had a real strong family element to it, and that it became a fight for survival he had to try and get through in order to reach his family," he said. 'Up to the fans' Olsen, who plays Taylor-Johnson's on-screen wife, said she enjoyed the challenge of playing a mother who has to "figure out how to go through things that are scary but not let on" because her son is witnessing the devastation around him. Cranston said ultimately it would be the fans who determine if the film is a success. Some have already criticised Godzilla for being "too fat" but the actor said he had to "hope for the best". "It's the public - the fans - that create a classic film or TV show," he added. "So it's up to them to decide if it weathers the test of time. And so too will it be for this version of our film." Godzilla opens in UK cinemas on 15 May.

गॉडजिला के निर्देशक गैरेथ एडवर्ड्स ने कहा है कि एक बड़े बजट के बावजूद, उनकी राक्षसी फिल्म डिजिटल तकनीक के अस्तित्व से पहले के 70 और 80 के दशक की याद दिलाती है, जिसमें प्राणी की केवल "संक्षिप्त झलक" है।


Star Wars figure Eric takes Instagram by storm

Summary: Images of a Star Wars action figure posed on a mossy wall in the Cairngorms and taking in a view of Inverness from a hotel window have helped South African photographer Darryll Jones gain a big following online.

By Steven McKenzieBBC Scotland Highlands and Islands reporter With almost 90,000 followers on Instagram, Jones' work has also been featured in the Guardian and digital photography magazine Retouched. But the rise in popularity of the photographic adventures of toy stormtrooper "Eric" and the poems that accompany him started almost by accident. "I moved to the UK from South Africa six years ago, and didn't realise how dark and cold the winters are here," says Jones. "So instead of the normal landscape photography I was doing, I found myself confined to the indoors, with only a few Lego stormtroopers as friends. So I started shooting them." After getting positive comments to his set ups using Lego Star Wars figures such as Chewbacca and Speeder Bike riders, the photographer and graphic artist moved on to action figures and the character Eric emerged. Other Star Wars mini figures, including bounty hunter Boba Fett, also appear in some of Jones' scenes. "I just enjoy making people smile," says Jones, whose day job is creating marketing images for a supermarket giant. "And I really love the expressionless face that stormtroopers have. The more I develop little story lines, the more the characters become alive, and they seem to tell their own stories, if that makes sense?" He adds: "There are and always have been thousands of people doing this sort of thing, but I think it's the stories, the poems and the characters that hopefully make mine stand apart." Scotland has provided Jones with many of his locations - Inverness and the Cairngorms near Aviemore - and ideas for set ups, including one about the Scottish Referendum where an undecided Eric opts to campaign for a "Maybe" vote rather than "Yes" or "No". Jones says: "I was fortunate enough with my job as a photographer at Tesco to go all over Scotland in a van and take photos of the farmers and growers. "I spent a week here and there and everywhere interviewing and photographing brewers, growers and farmers and all along the way I would stop and get shots of Eric and pals." He adds: "All of Scotland is beautiful, I spent my honeymoon in Scotland and Wales nine years ago, but if I had to pick a place it would be anywhere along the western coastline. "I have visited Skye and would love to get to the Outer Hebrides and all along that way."

केयर्नगोर्म्स में एक काईदार दीवार पर एक स्टार वार्स एक्शन आकृति की छवियों और एक होटल की खिड़की से इनवर्नेस का दृश्य लेने से दक्षिण अफ्रीकी फोटोग्राफर डेरिल जोन्स को ऑनलाइन एक बड़ी लोकप्रियता हासिल करने में मदद मिली है।